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/ˈzaɪtˌɡaɪst/ · noun
The spirit of the age; the taste, outlook, and spirit characteristic of a period..
She was anchored to that seat by the accumulated indignities of days gone by and the boundless aspirations of generations yet unborn. She was a victim of both the forces of history and the forces of destiny. She had been tracked down by the Zeitgeist—the spirit of the time.
After quickly summarizing the zeitgeisten of the Greek, Elizabethan, and early modern periods and their effects on the theatre, Rice turns to the contemporary world.
[Robert] Heinlein’s gift was to catch the zeitgeist. “That’s what made him so successful, but it makes his work seem dated.”
The vote also stoked fears that Swiss citizens were reflecting the zeitgeist across Europe, where right-wing populists increasingly are seizing the spotlight with an anti-immigration political agenda.
Use zeitgeist when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.
Zeitgeist means The spirit of the age; the taste, outlook, and spirit characteristic of a period..
Common synonyms include spiritus mundi, temper of the times, tenor of the times, time spirit.
The opposite depends on the specific sense.
She was anchored to that seat by the accumulated indignities of days gone by and the boundless aspirations of generations yet unborn. She was a victim of both the forces of history and the forces of destiny. She had been tracked down by the Zeitgeist—the spirit of the time.
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