Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The spirit of the time; the taste and outlook characteristic of a period or generation.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The spirit or genius of the time; that general drift of thought or feeling which particularly characterizes any period of time: a German word occasionally used in English.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The spirit of the time; the general intellectual and moral state or temper characteristic of any period of time.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Alternative capitalization of
zeitgeist
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the spirit of the time; the spirit characteristic of an age or generation
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
Examples
-
Pundits employ the term Zeitgeist to describe the temper of the times, the “feel” of a particular era.
-
Pundits employ the term Zeitgeist to describe the temper of the times, the “feel” of a particular era.
-
Zeitgeist is a German word which means 'Time' 'Spirit'.
-
Zeitgeist is a German word which means 'Time' 'Spirit'.
-
(TSEYT-geyst, ZEYT-geyst) The general moral, intellectual, and cultural climate of an era; Zeitgeist is German for time-spirit.
-
Along this scheme, though without employing the term Zeitgeist,
-
Zeitgeist is a German word meaning "spirit of the times."
-
I then got to thinking that if these heathen brutes could be introduced to the joys of producing actual musical notes from their hellish plastic pipes there might just be a shift in Zeitgeist amongst them and they might seek to actually make music.
Global Voices in English » South Africa: To vuvuzela or not to vuvuzela?
-
This goes so much against the Zeitgeist, is so politically incorrect and seems so outrageous to contemporary sensibilities that the Guardian, Daily Mail, Telegraph and Times all carried the story.
-
Zeitgeist is the general cultural, intellectual, ethical, spiritual, and/or political climate within a nation or even specific groups, along with the general ambience, morals, and sociocultural direction or mood of an era (similar to the English word mainstream or trend).
hernesheir commented on the word Zeitgeist
2/19/2011: I miss the Wordnik Zeitgeist - Watch Your Language page link/heading that is suddenly today named "Community".
While I understand that "Community" is way more evident than "Zeitgeist" and sure to be far less cryptic and confusing to new users, I have grown very fond of the "Watch Your Language" subtitle for the (small "c") "community" page. I would hope that some hybrid of the names of the former Zeitgeist and newly named Community page could be found and displayed....
February 19, 2011
ruzuzu commented on the word Zeitgeist
*wanders in expecting a food pellet*
*presses button*
*waits*
*presses button again*
*waits*
February 19, 2011
bilby commented on the word Zeitgeist
*places food pellet in open view with 'Eat Me' sign attached*
February 19, 2011
ruzuzu commented on the word Zeitgeist
*sniffs*
February 19, 2011
ruzuzu commented on the word Zeitgeist
*wonders why bilby's wearing an 'Eat Me' sign--isn't he endangered?*
February 19, 2011
ruzuzu commented on the word Zeitgeist
*bites*
February 19, 2011
fbharjo commented on the word Zeitgeist
the richness of ritual (How rich Y'all!) is often only fully recognized when it is gone.
February 19, 2011
bilby commented on the word Zeitgeist
Bitegeist.
February 19, 2011
reesetee commented on the word Zeitgeist
Hernesheir, I noticed that too, and thought my monitor was broken. ;-) I'll also miss Watch Your Language, but as long as Wordnik is still around, I'll live with the change.
February 19, 2011
frogapplause commented on the word Zeitgeist
I don't give a foutra anymore.
February 19, 2011