gestalt

[ guh-shtahlt, -shtawlt, -stahlt, -stawlt ]

/ gəˈʃtɑlt, -ˈʃtɔlt, -ˈstɑlt, -ˈstɔlt /

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See synonyms for: gestalt / gestalten / gestalts on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural ge·stalts, ge·stal·ten

[guh-shtahl-tn, -shtawl-, -stahl-, -stawl-]. /gəˈʃtɑl tn, -ˈʃtɔl-, -ˈstɑl-, -ˈstɔl-/. (sometimes initial capital letter)Psychology.

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

an instance or example of such a unified whole.

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Origin of gestalt

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

Words nearby gestalt

gesneriad, gesneria family, Gessen, gesso, gest, gestalt, Gestalt psychology, Gestalt psychotherapy, Gestapo, Gesta Romanorum, gestate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use gestalt in a sentence

The writer Lindy West, for example, has studied photos of fat women in the hope of “coaxing a gestalt shift from revulsion to admiration.”
Contemplating sex and other consequences of modern feminism|Megan Marz|October 29, 2021|Washington Post
Wertheimer termed the fundamental principle of gestalt perception prägnanz, as the tendency to seek simplicity through recurrence, order, or symmetry.
Your Brain Is Like Beethoven - Issue 107: The Edge|Jonathan Berger|October 27, 2021|Nautilus
In other words, I saw a mosaic, a gestalt—many pieces fusing to form a sum greater than the parts.
The Unexpected Joys of a Shabby Wildflower Guide|jversteegh|September 3, 2021|Outside Online
Not any specific feature of the series, but a sort of overall gestalt.
How ‘Battlestar Galactica,’ ‘Game of Thrones,’ and FanFiction Conquered Pop Culture|Arthur Chu|May 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST

But on Wednesday, here was the White House to remind you that an MC is more than the gestalt of his lyrics.
The GOP's Hypocrisy Over Rapper Common's White House Invite|Chris Lee|May 11, 2011|DAILY BEAST
To address the whole gestalt of the ultimate daiquiri, we need to come at this from two angles.
The Drink Hemingway Made Famous|Katie Workman|June 24, 2009|DAILY BEAST
"Dreaming of you, of course," he said to the flesh-clad skeleton behind the total gestalt Judy.
Warm|Robert Sheckley
Everett and his Telempathetic Gestalt have proved to be the equivalent of the world's largest survey sample.
Telempathy|Vance Simonds
Right now I needed a gestalt of something whose whole would be a lot greater than the sum of its parts.
Jack of No Trades|Charles Cottrell
Perls transformed the Gestalt psychologists' central idea so it would serve as a basis for his approach to psychotherapy.
When You Don't Know Where to Turn|Steven J. Bartlett
If his action is successful, his Gestalt is closed: the problem is resolved, and the motivation is fulfilled.
When You Don't Know Where to Turn|Steven J. Bartlett

British Dictionary definitions for gestalt

Gestalt

/ (ɡəˈʃtælt) /

noun plural -stalts or -stalten (-ˈʃtæltən)

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

Word Origin for Gestalt

C20: German: form, from Old High German stellen to shape

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