zeitgeist

American  

[tsahyt-, zahyt-gahyst] / ˈtsaɪt-, ˈzaɪtˌgaɪst /

noun

1. Sometimes Zeitgeist the spirit of the time; the general trend of thought, feeling, or tastes characteristic of a particular period of time.

   It’s one of those iconic novels that represents the zeitgeist of the mid-1990s so perfectly that reading it provides the ideal dose of nostalgia.

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zeitgeist British  

/ ˈzaɪtˌɡaɪst /

noun

1. the spirit, attitude, or general outlook of a specific time or period, esp as it is reflected in literature, philosophy, etc

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Zeitgeist Cultural  

1. The general moral, intellectual, and cultural climate of an era; Zeitgeist is German for “time-spirit.” For example, the Zeitgeist of England in the Victorian period included a belief in industrial progress, and the Zeitgeist of the 1980s in the United States was a belief in the power of money and the many ways in which to spend it.

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Usage

What does zeitgeist mean? The zeitgeist is the collective attitude or outlook of people or a culture at a specific point in time.Zeitgeist can be used in discussion of the current moment, a narrow period of time  in the past, or a broader period or era. Literature and other media are sometimes said to express the Zeitgeist of the time they were created in or of a past period of time. The word is capitalized in its original language, German, and is sometimes capitalized in English (Zeitgeist).Example: The zeitgeist at the time was a feeling that anything was possible.

Etymology

Origin of zeitgeist

First recorded in 1840–50; from German Zeitgeist, equivalent to Zeit “time, age, epoch” + Geist “spirit, mind, intellect”; tide ¹ ( def. ), ghost ( def. )

Example Sentences

As recently as November, Milli Vanilli came up in the zeitgeist, sparked by a comment on X by veteran producer Jermaine Dupri commenting on AI “artists” charting on Billboard.

From Los Angeles Times

But as the movement grew, new interpretations spread, transforming the pink hats into a Rorschach test for where you were in the zeitgeist.

From Slate

For some time, 2016 has loomed large in the zeitgeist of “zillennials”—younger millennials and older Gen Zers born around the 1996 cutoff.

From The Wall Street Journal

When people are making things that are of time, it’s responding to the zeitgeist or weird ideas around marketing and what’s popular.

From Los Angeles Times

White occupies a unique position in the zeitgeist.

From The Wall Street Journal