Definition of gestalt
gestalts
alsogestalten
play \-ˈstäl-tən, -ˈshtäl-, -ˈstȯl-, -ˈshtȯl-\: something that is made of many parts and yet is somehow more than or different from the combination of its parts When he gets rolling, you're not responding to single jokes—it's the whole gestalt of the movie that's funny. — Pauline Kael; broadly : the general quality or character of something When new employees are recruited fresh out of college and can look forward to working for the same company for 40 years, it changes the gestalt of management. — Brenton R. Schlender … the Old Hollywood gestalt, where daughters adored and romanticized their charismatic, powerful, often unavailable fathers. — Nora Johnson
From the M-W Editors
Examples of gestalt in a Sentence
the gestalt of human consciousness
Recent Examples of gestalt from the Web
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So in the gestalt, his films leave compositional rather than human stains on the finished print.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gestalt'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of gestalt
German, literally, shape, form
Other Psychology Terms
Medical Dictionary
Medical Definition of gestalt
gestalten
\-ən\play orgestalts
: a structure, arrangement, or pattern of physical, biological, or psychological phenomena so integrated as to constitute a functional unit with properties not derivable by summation of its parts
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See words that rhyme with gestalt Britannica English: Translation of gestalt for Arabic speakers
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