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echt

American  
[ekht] / ɛxt /

adjective

German.
  1. real; authentic; genuine.


echt British  
/ ɛçt, ɛkt /

adjective

  1. real; genuine; authentic

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Explanation

Something that's echt is true or authentic. An echt friend would never throw a party without inviting you! In German, the word echt means "genuine." The Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw is credited with being the first to use it in English, in a 1916 article. You can try out this uncommon adjective whenever you're looking for a new way to describe something or someone as bona fide, authentic, or the real deal: "You've got six kitties? Wow, you're an echt cat lover!"

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Vocabulary lists containing echt

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Salesforce CEO Mark Benioff was long regarded as an echt San Francisco liberal billionaire.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2025

Regardless, the only way to have an echt cream today, that would make Auster proud, is to make one yourself.

From Salon ● Apr. 5, 2022

The quartet was, you might say, echt Viennese.

From New York Times ● Jun. 14, 2020

LACMA’s Minimalist design isn’t bold or progressive; it’s echt establishment.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2019

Never again will I attempt to select "echt Amerikanische" clothes for a woman who must not weary her young husband.

From Dawn O'Hara, the Girl Who Laughed by Edna Ferber

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