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 • Dec. 29, 2025

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 • Feb. 6, 2025

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

From Science Magazine • Nov. 7, 2023

For Gen X, whose gestalt is built around an aura of disaffected youth, aging may feel unnatural, Pamela Paul says.

From New York Times • Oct. 24, 2022

It was the creation of the gestalt Bobby needed to prove to himself that he was capable of dominance.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Related Words

• composition
• contour
• shape
• structure