zeitgeist
Prevailing cultural atmosphere
Zeitgeist is the spirit or mood of a particular era—the shared attitudes, ideas, and beliefs that define a time.
From German, literally "time-spirit." The word captures something broader than fashion or trend: the underlying assumptions and concerns that shape how people think during a period.
Her novel captured the zeitgeist of postwar America.
Social media is very much part of the current zeitgeist.
Spreading quickly online
- trendingCurrently gaining widespread attention
- mainstreamDominant cultural current
- buzzwordTrendy jargon, often hollow
- hashtagLabeled link for posts
influencer · hype · fad · vogue · bandwagon · fashionable · emerging · contemporary
Collective moral character
- spiritSoul, mood, or liquor
- moodPrevailing emotional condition
- atmosphereGaseous layer around planets
- climatePrevailing atmospheric conditions
milieu · sentiment · consciousness · mindset · sensibility · temperament · pulse · vibe
Distinct historical period
- epochDistinct historical period
- ageDuration of existence
- periodPunctuation ending sentences
- centuryHundred-year span
decade · millennium · antiquity · modernity · postmodernity · fin-de-siècle · interwar · postwar
Philosophy stressing self-created meaning
- postmodernismSkepticism toward universal truths
- nihilismRejection of objective meaning
- humanismPhilosophy prioritizing earthly reason
- materialismPrioritizing goods over spirit
idealism · romanticism · rationalism · pragmatism · modernism · relativism · individualism · collectivism
viral
Spreading quickly online
- trendingCurrently gaining widespread attention
- mainstreamDominant cultural current
- buzzwordTrendy jargon, often hollow
hashtag · influencer · hype · fad · vogue · bandwagon · fashionable · emerging · contemporary · current
ethos
Collective moral character
- spiritSoul, mood, or liquor
- moodPrevailing emotional condition
- atmosphereGaseous layer around planets
climate · milieu · sentiment · consciousness · mindset · sensibility · temperament · pulse · vibe · collective
era
Distinct historical period
century · decade · millennium · antiquity · modernity · postmodernity · fin-de-siècle · interwar · postwar · Renaissance
existentialism
Philosophy stressing self-created meaning
- postmodernismSkepticism toward universal truths
- nihilismRejection of objective meaning
- humanismPhilosophy prioritizing earthly reason
materialism · idealism · romanticism · rationalism · pragmatism · modernism · relativism · individualism · collectivism · progressivism
- German cultureOktoberfest, Bavaria, Bavarian, Berlin, Munich
- borrowed wordschic, naive, passe, avant-garde, faux
- cultural conceptstrends, movements, icons, fads, phenomena
- German Loanwordsangst, blitzkrieg, doppelganger, gesundheit, kaput
- German Wordsdie, in, an, auf, von
- public opinionpublic opinion, public sentiment, polls, poll, approval
zeitgeistanachronism
Historical time-placement error
behind the times · archaism · outdatedness · obsolescence · antiquatedness