Sturm und Drang

noun

ˌshtu̇rm-u̇nt-ˈdräŋ 

ˌstu̇rm-,

-ənt-

1

: a late 18th century German literary movement characterized by works containing rousing action and high emotionalism that often deal with the individual's revolt against society

2

: turmoil

Did you know?

Sturm und Drang comes from German, where it literally means "storm and stress." Although it’s now a generic synonym of "turmoil," the term was originally used in English to identify a late 18th-century German literary movement whose works were filled with rousing action and high emotionalism, and often dealt with an individual rebelling against the injustices of society. The movement took its name from the 1776 play Sturm und Drang, a work by one of its proponents, dramatist and novelist Friedrich von Klinger. Although the literary movement was well known in Germany in the late 1700s, the term "Sturm und Drang" didn’t appear in English prose until the mid-1800s.

Synonyms

• disquiet
• ferment
• fermentation
• restiveness
• restlessness
• turmoil
• uneasiness
• unquietness
• unrest

Examples of Sturm und Drang in a Sentence

in a year filled with corporate Sturm und Drang, the company was headed by no fewer than three different CEOs

Recent Examples on the Web

Months removed from the Sturm und Drang, Gelfond’s detractors have come around. —Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 4 Apr. 2024

There was none of the Sturm und Drang of last year, at least, when the White House went back and forth with Fox Corp. over whether Biden would sit for an interview. —Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 9 Feb. 2024

The play seems to speak directly to our current culture wars concerning race and history, in schools and beyond, from the Sturm und Drang over the New York Times’s 1619 Project to Rufo’s farcical witch-hunting with respect to critical race theory. —Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 16 May 2022

Subways and commuter trains rumbling by the stadiums, planes from LaGuardia roaring above and crowds screaming from the stands represent the Sturm und Drang that goes with carrying the hopes and expectations of the hometown fans. —Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 27 Aug. 2023

Mulaney, now 40 years old, sober, and healthier-looking, emerged from the Sturm und Drang with an hour and change of new material that he’s brought to the eyes of the world in John Mulaney: Baby J, a wonderfully candid Netflix stand-up special premiering April 25. —Marlow Stern, Rolling Stone, 25 Apr. 2023

But amid the Sturm und Drang of America’s broken politics, some things are becoming clearer. —Karl Rove, wsj.com, 5 Apr. 2023

With all the choices consumers have and all the Sturm und Drang around Penney in the last decade, why do customers even need you? —Phil Wahba, Fortune, 23 Mar. 2023

The implication—that an NME story may have shaped the Sturm und Drang, and maybe even the acute suicidal ideation, of the era’s most iconic rock star—is both gruesome and tantalizing, speaking perversely to the outsize impact of the rock critic. —John Semley, The New Republic, 18 Nov. 2022

Word History

Etymology

German, literally, storm and stress, from Sturm und Drang (1776), drama by Friedrich von Klinger †1831 German novelist and dramatist

First Known Use

1845, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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