plural gestalts also gestalten
gə-ˈstäl-tᵊn 
-ˈshtäl-,
-ˈstȯl-,
-ˈshtȯl-
: something that is made of many parts and yet is somehow more than or different from the combination of its parts
When he gets rolling, you're not responding to single jokes—it's the whole gestalt of the movie that's funny.—
Pauline Kael
Pauline Kael
broadly
: the general quality or character of something
When new employees are recruited fresh out of college and can look forward to working for the same company for 40 years, it changes the gestalt of management. —Brenton R. Schlender
Brenton R. Schlender … the Old Hollywood gestalt, where daughters adored and romanticized their charismatic, powerful, often unavailable fathers. —Nora Johnson
Nora Johnson Examples of gestalt in a Sentence
the gestalt of human consciousness
Recent Examples on the Web
In other words, the linear process of writing got a dimensional upgrade, from 2D to 3D.
Google Docs enabled similar gestalt shifts.
—Sheon Han, WIRED, 9 May 2023
The sausage and garlicky spinach too were nicely complementary and spiced, nestled within sauce and the cheese mixture in a uniquely delicious gestalt.
—Ahmed Ali Akbar, Chicago Tribune, 22 Oct. 2024
From many, back to one The trio form a kind of gestalt that can only function as a whole: Baruchowitz with his expertise in reverse logistics, Jogikalmath with his prowess in materials science and Calvert with his commercial experience and eye for design.
—Jasmin Malik Chua, Sourcing Journal, 3 Sep. 2019
To convey her heroine’s sophisticated gestalt, Meyers sends her to the Barefoot Contessa.
—Molly Fischer, The New Yorker, 2 Sep. 2024
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Sheon Han, WIRED, 9 May 2023
The sausage and garlicky spinach too were nicely complementary and spiced, nestled within sauce and the cheese mixture in a uniquely delicious gestalt.
—Ahmed Ali Akbar, Chicago Tribune, 22 Oct. 2024
From many, back to one The trio form a kind of gestalt that can only function as a whole: Baruchowitz with his expertise in reverse logistics, Jogikalmath with his prowess in materials science and Calvert with his commercial experience and eye for design.
—Jasmin Malik Chua, Sourcing Journal, 3 Sep. 2019
To convey her heroine’s sophisticated gestalt, Meyers sends her to the Barefoot Contessa.
—Molly Fischer, The New Yorker, 2 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for gestalt
Dictionary Entries Near gestalt
Cite this Entry
“Gestalt.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gestalt. Accessed 25 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
gestalt
noun
ge·stalt
gə-ˈs(h)tält
-ˈs(h)tȯlt
-ˈs(h)tȯlt
plural gestalten
-ᵊn
or gestalts
or gestalts
: a structure, arrangement, or pattern of physical, biological, or psychological phenomena so integrated as to constitute a functional unit with properties not derivable by summation of its parts
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