German

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Etymology

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Calque of French bel esprit, schön +‎ Geist.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈʃøːnˌɡaɪ̯st/
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

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Schöngeist m (strong, genitive Schöngeistes or Schöngeists, plural Schöngeister)

  1. (sometimes derogatory) aesthete, belletrist (someone who cultivates a high sensitivity to beauty, particularly in the arts)
    Synonym: Belletrist
    • 1918, Heinrich Mann, Der Untertan[1], Leipzig: Kurt Wolff Verlag, page 86; republished as Ernest Boyd, transl., The Patrioteer, 1921:
      Diederich erinnerte sich, daß auf der Schule Bucks deutsche Aufsätze, die zu geistreich waren, ihm ein unerklärtes, aber tiefes Mißtrauen eingegeben hatten. „Stimmt,“ dachte er, „so ist er geblieben. Ein Schöngeist. Die ganze Familie ist so.“
      Diederich remembered that in school Buck's German compositions had aroused in him a deep, if inexplicable, mistrust; they were too clever. “That's it,” he thought, “he has remained the same, an intellectual, and so is the whole family.”

Declension

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Derived terms

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Further reading

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