gesundheit

American  

[guh-zoont-hahyt] / gəˈzʊnt haɪt /

interjection

1. (used to wish good health, especially to a person who has just sneezed.)

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gesundheit British  

/ ɡəˈzʊnthait /

1. an expression used to wish good health to someone who has just sneezed

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Gesundheit Cultural  

1. German for “good health.” Like the English phrase “Bless you,” it is conventionally said to someone who has just sneezed. This reflects the superstition that a sneeze can cause the soul to fly out of the body; saying the phrase prevents this from happening.

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Etymology

Origin of gesundheit

1905–10, < German: literally, health, equivalent to gesund healthy ( Old High German gisunt; sound ² ) + -heit -hood

Example Sentences

Why bother still bringing up someone’s nepo-ness whenever their name is mentioned, with both the mic-drop confidence of a gotcha and the rote formality of a gesundheit?

From Slate • Jan. 30, 2024

The Wisconsinite says gesundheit, after all, because that part of the country was once packed with German immigrants.

From Time • Apr. 6, 2015

“Fine. He said wanderlust., so what? If I say gesundheit when someone sneezes, it hardly means I speak German,” Maytag retorted.

From "The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book I: The Mysterious Howling" by Maryrose Wood