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

Therapists are typically trained in a number of different modalities, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), gestalt therapy, somatic therapy, and art therapy. —Time, 24 Aug. 2023

The man’s gestalt was designed for accompaniment on harmonica. —Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 14 Aug. 2023

Rather than laying out a factoid chronology, Lusztig, with strong, clear-eyed work by Frantzen, captures Richland’s gestalt, interweaving a potent selection of new interviews, archival footage, music and song. —Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 June 2023

Some ores have a singular taste and smell, their presence pulses in the ambient air and can be pinned down in the word geologists often use: its facies, the gestalt of complex rock formations. —Paul Theroux, Harper's Magazine, 11 Aug. 2022

Even so, his comments about the possible positive impacts of climate change neatly summed up the gestalt of the conference. —Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 21 Feb. 2013

In the vast constellation of conservative figures, there are few who have exhibited both the gravity and luminosity of Matt Schlapp, chair of the powerful American Conservative Union, and longtime powerhouse within a particular right-wing gestalt. —Rafi Schwartz, The Week, 2 Mar. 2023

But the different themes, the gestalt of the music, the sonic fabric, and the instruments, are determined prior. —Sonya Alexander, Rolling Stone, 26 Feb. 2023

Its gestalt can be summed up like this: Global warming is bad for the world. —Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 13 Feb. 2013

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Word History

Etymology

German, literally, shape, form

First Known Use

1922, in the meaning defined above

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