zeitgeist
noun
ˈzīt-
Did you know?
Scholars have long maintained that each era has a unique spirit, a nature or climate that sets it apart from all others. In German, such a spirit is known as Zeitgeist, from the German words Zeit, meaning "time," and Geist, meaning "spirit" or "ghost." (This same Geist, when combined with poltern, meaning "to knock," led to the English word poltergeist referring to a noisy ghost.) It is common nowadays to read about something "tapping into" or "capturing" the zeitgeist, as doing so often entails popularity or profitability in appealing to a great many people, though sometimes the zeitgeist of a particular time and place is only recognized in hindsight, either due to nostalgia or with the benefit of (one hopes) greater wisdom.
Examples of zeitgeist in a Sentence
Amaris Encinas, USA Today, 27 Dec. 2025
Those characters didn't debut in comic books until 1984, one year after the setting of the TV show's first season, and Dimension X didn't hit the zeitgeist until even later.
—Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 26 Dec. 2025
Stranger Things pierced the zeitgeist in a way that will be hard to recreate.
—Jessica Radloff, Glamour, 26 Dec. 2025
American Idol has always been a family-friendly staple in the reality-TV world, equally amenable to grandparents and children, but its days as part of the pop-zeitgeist machine are long gone.
—Zach Schonfeld, Rolling Stone, 25 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for zeitgeist
Cite this Entry
“Zeitgeist.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zeitgeist. Accessed 31 Dec. 2025.
Copy Citation
Share