geist

American  

[gahyst] / gaɪst /

noun

geists plural

1. spirit or ethos, as of a period in history, an organization or nation, etc.; the general principle that animates something or gives it its fundamental character.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• geists
  plural

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

geist

A glance at the “12 Dimensions” listed by the State Department for potential foreign service specialists suggests that Weber’s geist hovered over its authors.

From Slate ● Nov. 25, 2019

Whether the brooding grandeur of an orchestral theme or the pounding electronica of an action sequence, Jack Wall’s notes seize the geist of the game and make it real.

From Forbes ● Dec. 24, 2012

What with terrorism and financial panic and the joyful stupidities of reality TV, the zeit has plenty of geist for a novelist to exploit.

From New York Times ● Mar. 19, 2010

Skeptics, of course, said it was not a geist at all, polter or otherwise, but their alternative theories lacked concrete evidence.

From Time Magazine Archive

Blas was, I suppose, from blasen, to blow, and gas seems to be an attempt to get at the Sanskrit root underlying all such words as geist.

From Pioneers of Science by Lodge, Oliver, Sir