Gestalt

//ɡəˈʃtɔlt// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A collection of physical, biological, psychological or symbolic elements that creates a whole, unified concept or pattern which is other than the sum of its parts due to the relationships between the parts (of a character, personality, entity, or being).

    "Mary did not approve of the Eleanor gestalt. "I been to Woonsocket S.D., Eleanor McGovern's hometown," she said, "and nobody there? I mean nobody? dresses like that.""

  2. 2
    Alternative letter-case form of gestalt. alt-of
  3. 3
    a configuration or pattern of elements so unified as a whole that it cannot be described merely as a sum of its parts wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
alentoursambienceambitangleaspectborderland

Example

More examples

"It's dazzling how a couple of million cells embedded in an electrochemical mush give rise to the gestalt of human consciousness."

Etymology

Borrowed from German Gestalt (“shape, figure, form”).

Related phrases

Gestalt therapygestalt psychology

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.