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 right brain sees in wholes (the gestalt), whereas the left brain loves systems. —Christian Wiman, Harpers Magazine, 23 Nov. 2025

The mind effortlessly creates a gestalt, a whole that is more than the sum of its parts. —Literary Hub, 17 Nov. 2025

The Chair Company coheres into a gestalt, a whole that’s somehow greater than the sum of its absurdities. —Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 9 Oct. 2025

That paradox is central to Swift’s gestalt. —Amanda Petrusich, New Yorker, 3 Oct. 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