zeitgeist

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.

Zeitgeist is borrowed from German and literally translates to “time spirit” or “spirit of the times.” It comes from the German Zeit, meaning “time,” and Geist, meaning “spirit” or “ghost” (as seen in poltergeist, which means “a noisy ghost”). The term was originally used by German philosophers in the 1800s, including Georg Hegel and Johann Goethe. One of its first known uses in English came in an 1848 book by British literary critic Matthew Arnold, who often discussed Goethe in his work.

Zeitgeist may still be used in philosophical discussions, but it is perhaps more popularly used in observations about what people are or were feeling during a particular moment of time. It is especially used in discussions of public attitudes and cultural shifts during past periods, which are easier to identify and analyze with hindsight. Sometimes it is applied to an entire era, such as the Victorian era, whose zeitgeist is often described as being focused on industrial progress. It is often applied to decades. For example, the zeitgeist of 1980s America is often said to have been a preoccupation with wealth and consumption. Sometimes, zeitgeist is used in discussion of how it changed, as in The free loving zeitgeist of the early ’60s was soon replaced with anxieties driven by assassination and war.

Zeitgeist is often used to discuss particular works of art that are considered to have skillfully represented the prevailing outlook of a certain time, such as books, music, and movies, as in The film perfectly captures the zeitgeist during the tech boom of the early 2000s.

What are some other forms of zeitgeist?

• zeitgeisty (slang, adjective)

What are some synonyms for zeitgeist?

• spirit
• climate
• outlook
• atmosphere

What are some words that share a root or word element with zeitgeist? 

• zeitgeber 
• poltergeist

What are some words that often get used in discussing zeitgeist?

• era
• time
• moment
• general
• feeling
• culture
• trend

Zeitgeist is often used in observations about cultural trends and in statements about media that are said to have captured the overall feeling of an era.

It's always people with the least thought out, most generic designs that think people are ripping them off.

Just cause you dragged the lowest common denominator out of the zeitgeist doesn't mean you own it lol.

— Marissa Louise (@marissadraws) February 21, 2020

In my lifetime: Batman ‘89. Jurassic Park. Titanic.

Not just for the films themselves but the way they so totally defined the zeitgeist. They had to be released at exactly the right moment to hit the way they did. https://t.co/YiAIQzewBb

— Zaki Hasan (@zakiscorner) February 23, 2020

The pandemic zeitgeist gives me an opportunity to practice my favorite contact avoidance technique ever, the Ebola Elbow handshake

— Xeni (@xeni) February 26, 2020

Is zeitgeist used correctly in the following sentence?

The musical zeitgeist of the 1980s was dominated by flashy performances and flamboyant fashions.