Sturm und Drang

Sturm und Drang

noun \ˌshtu̇rm-u̇nt-ˈdräŋ, ˌstu̇rm-, -ənt-\

Definition of STURM UND DRANG

1

: a late 18th century German literary movement characterized by works containing rousing action and high emotionalism that often deal with the individual's revolt against society

2

: turmoil

Examples of STURM UND DRANG

1. <in a year filled with corporate Sturm und Drang, the company was headed by no fewer than three different CEOs>

Origin of STURM UND DRANG

German, literally, storm and stress, from Sturm und Drang (1776), drama by Friedrich von Klinger †1831 German novelist and dramatist

First Known Use: 1845

Related to STURM UND DRANG

Synonyms

disquiet, ferment, fermentation, restiveness, restlessness, unrest, turmoil, uneasiness, unquietness

Antonyms

calm, ease, peace, peacefulness, quiet, tranquillity (or tranquility)

Related Words

fidgets; agitation, commotion, confusion, excitement, hubbub, moil, stir, storm, trouble, tumult, tumultuousness, turbulence, upheaval, uproar, unsettlement; disruption, perturbation; agitation, anxiety, disquietude, inquietude, queasiness, tension, unease; anarchy, chaos, disorder, welter

Near Antonyms

order, orderliness

Rhymes with STURM UND DRANG

billabong, Chittagong, Liaoyang, Semarang, scuppernong, Vietcong, Wollongong

Sturm und Drang

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

German literary movement of the latter half of the 18th century characterized by a revolt against what the writers saw as the Enlightenment cult of rationalism and the sterile imitation of French literature. It exalted nature, intuition, impulse, instinct, emotion, fancy, and inborn genius as the wellsprings of literature. Influenced by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Johann Gottfried Herder, and others, it took its name from the title of a play by Friedrich von Klinger (1752–1831). Dramatic works were the movement's most characteristic product. Its most gifted representatives were Friedrich Schiller and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, whose Sorrows of Young Werther (1774) epitomizes its spirit.