gestalt

noun

Save Word

ge·stalt | \ gə-ˈstält

, -ˈshtält, -ˈstȯlt, -ˈshtȯlt

plural gestalts also gestalten\ gə-ˈstäl-tᵊn

, -ˈshtäl- , -ˈstȯl- , -ˈshtȯl- \

Definition of gestalt

: 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 These run as distinctive currents throughout and lend to an overall gestalt as satisfying as a fine musical album that leaves thrum and echo in its wake. — oregonlive, 6 Apr. 2022 One woman is sure that the new management will bring new occupants and a new overall attitude, but another argues that the Chelsea’s bohemian excess is baked into its gestalt. — Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Feb. 2022 Instead, the directors deliver the gestalt of the Chelsea, the overall sensation conveyed by the building, its past and its scaffolded present. — Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Feb. 2022 When the film doesn’t fit with NASA’s gestalt, filmmakers can’t use the agency’s logo. — Washington Post, 16 Jan. 2022 In 1980, a year after she was hired to run Interiors, Ms. Russell told The New York Times that her editorial vision would embrace the go-go gestalt of the impending decade. — New York Times, 29 Dec. 2021 It’s an eerie gestalt, a foreboding feeling of unbookiness. — Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 14 Sep. 2021 Social media is a gestalt of motivating voices, from friends and family to competitors and influencers, ads and organic posts alike. — Elissa Baker, Forbes, 21 May 2021 The gestalt of Latest Music Project, Volume 1 is to sing against the global push toward socialism. — Armond White, National Review, 19 May 2021 See More

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.

Learn More About gestalt

Dictionary Entries Near gestalt

gestagen

gestalt

gestaltist

Statistics for gestalt

Last Updated

18 Apr 2022

Cite this Entry

“Gestalt.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gestalt. Accessed 23 May. 2022.

Style: MLA

MLA

Chicago

APA

Merriam-Webster Check Mark Icon

More Definitions for gestalt

gestalt

noun

ge·stalt | \ gə-ˈs(h)tält

, -ˈs(h)tȯlt

plural gestalten\ -ᵊn

\ or gestalts

Medical Definition of gestalt

: 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