zeitgeist

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 31, 2024 is:

zeitgeist • \TSYTE-gyste\ • noun

Zeitgeist refers to the general beliefs, ideas, and spirit of a time and place.

// The artist’s songs perfectly captured the zeitgeist of 1990s America.

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Examples:

"In appointing Pharrell Williams as creative director in 2023, Louis Vuitton tapped further into the zeitgeist, refreshing the brand's image and broadening both its appeal and its dedication to cultural excellence." — Olivia Morelli, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Oct. 2024

Did you know?

Scholars have long maintained that each era has a unique spirit, a nature or climate that sets it apart from all others. In German, such a spirit is known as Zeitgeist, from the German words Zeit, meaning "time," and Geist, meaning "spirit" or "ghost." (This same Geist, when combined with poltern, meaning "to knock," led to the English word poltergeist referring to a noisy ghost.) It is common nowadays to read about something "tapping into" or "capturing" the zeitgeist, as doing so often entails popularity or profitability in appealing to a great many people, though sometimes the zeitgeist of a particular time and place is only recognized in hindsight, either due to nostalgia or with the benefit of (one hopes) greater wisdom.