gestalt

American  

[guh-shtahlt, -shtawlt, -stahlt, -stawlt] / gəˈʃtɑlt, -ˈʃtɔlt, -ˈstɑlt, -ˈstɔlt /

noun

(sometimes initial capital letter)

plural

gestalts, gestalten

1. a configuration, pattern, or organized field having specific properties that cannot be derived from the summation of its component parts; a unified whole.

2. an instance or example of such a unified whole.

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Gestalt British  

/ ɡəˈʃtælt /

noun

1. (sometimes not capital) a perceptual pattern or structure possessing qualities as a whole that cannot be described merely as a sum of its parts See also Gestalt psychology

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Etymology

Origin of gestalt

1920–25; < German: figure, form, structure

Example Sentences

Or, as in “Stranger Things” and “Weapons,” the gestalt entity may be ruled by one being devoted to conquest and control.

From Salon

And if you take things out, you’re losing the power of the gestalt, essentially, of the larger gesture that they made.

From Los Angeles Times

On the title track, listeners are greeted with glitchy vocal samples before Joachim puts new elements into the gestalt, and quickly.

From New York Times

The two- or three-word tags, meant to convey the gestalt of a show or movie, regularly help viewers choose a show from the service’s nearly endless library, the company says.

From New York Times

The guides, it said, reflect “the whole gestalt of India’s association with sky and space.”

From Science Magazine

Related Words

• composition
• contour
• shape
• structure