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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

For sculpture, the cube is Minimalism’s echt form.

From Los Angeles Times Nov. 12, 2021

The quartet was, you might say, echt Viennese.

From New York Times Jun. 14, 2020

One little thing the Germans have done here that is echt Deutsch is to change the clocks on the railway stations and public buildings to German time.

From A Journal From Our Legation in Belgium by Gibson, Hugh

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