Goethe

[ gur-tuh, German gœ-tuh ]

/ ˈgɜr tə, German ˈgœ tə /

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noun

Jo·hann Wolf·gang von

[yoh-hahn vawlf-gahng fuhn], /ˈyoʊ hɑn ˈvɔlf gɑŋ fən/, 1749–1832, German poet, dramatist, novelist, and philosopher.

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OTHER WORDS FROM Goethe

Goe·the·an, Goe·thi·an

[gur-tee-uhn, gœ-], /ˈgɜr ti ən, ˈgœ-/, adjective

Words nearby Goethe

Goering, Goering (or göring), hermann, goes, goes to show, Goethals, Goethe, Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, goethite, Goetz, go far, go-faster stripe

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

How to use Goethe in a sentence

But does this translate into a reason to ignore the giants of the German canon: Goethe, Mann, Brecht?
What Should Be Your Favorite Books?|Benjamin Lytal|February 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Architecture is frozen music, Goethe wrote, and to my mind cities are, too.
'Heroic Old Warhorse'|Jan Morris|February 18, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Goethe recalled later that he had been first asked his age and been complimented that, at 60, he was “well preserved.”
The Best of Brit Lit|Peter Stothard|June 21, 2010|DAILY BEAST
It seemed strange to me to be passing the room of my beloved Goethe, with our equally beloved Liszt!
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay

Goethe's poem is more interesting because of the greater solidity of the characters, and because of the more closely knitted plot.
Frdric Mistral|Charles Alfred Downer
And Mazzini found in his verse a great social lesson, such as Goethe 327 never tried to teach.
The Life of Mazzini|Bolton King
"A great man can be recognized (p. 173) only by his peers," is one of Goethe's own sentences.
The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte|William Milligan Sloane
Meanwhile he, Lancaster, had his Euripides and Goethe and whatever else he liked, or knew where to borrow it.
Security|Poul William Anderson

British Dictionary definitions for Goethe

Goethe

/ (German ˈɡøːtə) /

noun

Johann Wolfgang von (joˈhan ˈvɔlfɡaŋ fɔn). 1749–1832, German poet, novelist, and dramatist, who settled in Weimar in 1775. His early works of the Sturm und Drang period include the play Götz von Berlichingen (1773) and the novel The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774). After a journey to Italy (1786–88) his writings, such as the epic play Iphigenie auf Tauris (1787) and the epic idyll Hermann und Dorothea (1797), showed the influence of classicism. Other works include the Wilhelm Meister novels (1796–1829) and his greatest masterpiece Faust (1808; 1832)

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