Goethe

American  

[gur-tuh, gœ-tuh] / ˈgɜr tə, ˈgœ tə /

noun

1. Johann Wolfgang von 1749–1832, German poet, dramatist, novelist, and philosopher.

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Goethe British  

/ ˈɡøːtə /

noun

1. 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)

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Other Word Forms

• Goethean
  adjective
• Goethian
  adjective

Example Sentences

Forster’s marriage also brought him suffering—he was disdained by his wife and cuckolded by his friends—indeed, his marital situation may have given Goethe the basis for his 1809 novel “Elective Affinities.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026

The philosophical bent of Palantir came from Karp, who holds a Ph.D. in neoclassical social theory from Goethe University Frankfurt in Germany.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 4, 2026

A remarkable polymath, Goethe himself served as an advisor to Weimar’s Grand Duke, brilliantly balancing political compromises with literature’s highest spiritual callings.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 19, 2026

Angelica Feurdean, the study's lead author and a senior researcher at Goethe University in Germany, said the team combined multiple scientific methods to rebuild a long-term record of wildfire activity.

From Science Daily • Jan. 14, 2026

The great German writer and statesman Johann Wolfgang von Goethe later marveled at how easily she moved back and forth between art and science, between the “inspection of nature and the aims of painting.”

From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman