gestalt

noun

ge·​stalt gə-ˈstält 

-ˈshtält,

-ˈstȯlt,

-ˈshtȯlt 

plural gestalts also gestalten gə-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

Examples of gestalt in a Sentence

the gestalt of human consciousness

Recent Examples on the Web

The palace’s black walls, a dungeon with rattling chains, a man in tuxedo and ram’s head groping a naked woman, Young Salome in her Wednesday Addams outfit — the whole gestalt teeters on the verge of black comedy and kitsch. —Justin Davidson, Vulture, 30 Apr. 2025

Vallée, a 31-year-old French gestalt therapist based in Berlin, Germany specializes in helping clients navigate body image issues and eating disorders. —Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 May 2025

This kind of moment, though mysterious, has been an essential and meaningful part of the band’s gestalt since the beginning. —Amanda Petrusich, New Yorker, 14 Apr. 2025

But the gestalt of almost any long-running drama about professionals such as detectives, lawyers, and doctors is the mega-satisfaction that comes with observing core competence. —David Sims, The Atlantic, 28 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

German, literally, shape, form

First Known Use

1922, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for gestalt

• asphalt
• assault
• basalt
• cobalt
• default
• exalt
• alt
• fault
• gault
• halt
• malt
• sault

Medical Definition

gestalt

noun

ge·​stalt gə-ˈs(h)tält  -ˈs(h)tȯlt 

plural gestalten -ᵊn  or gestalts

: 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