See also: gemutlich and gemuetlich

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Borrowed from German gemütlich, from Middle High German gemüetlich, from gemüet (mind, mentality) + -lich (-ly), equivalent to Gemüt (mind, soul) +‎ -lich (-ly). More at mood, -ly.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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gemütlich (comparative more gemütlich or gemütlicher, superlative most gemütlich or gemütlichest)

  1. Comfortable, cosy, pleasant.
    • 1972, Robertson Davies, The Manticore:
      Judy told me of its charms because its gemütlich, nineteenth-century naïveté appealed strongly to her; either she was innocent in her tastes or else sophisticated in seeing in this humble little work delights and possibilities the other girls missed.
    • 2001 November 25, Hilton Als, “Unhappy Endings”, in The New Yorker[1]:
      For several years, the center of her world has been the gemütlich studio of her Eastern European piano teacher, Mr. Bilderbach, and his wife, Anna.
    • 2023 June 7, Jennifer Szalai, “When ‘Regime Change’ Means Returning America to an Idealized Past”, in The New York Times[2], →ISSN:
      Underneath all the gemütlich verbs lurks a suggestion that some readers may find chilling: a vision of the “common good” so obvious to Deneen that it’s not up for debate or discussion.
  2. Friendly, genial, cheerful, easy-going.
    • 1997 January 26, Judith Miller, “FILM: Making Money Abroad, And Also a Few Enemies”, in New York Times, New York:
      The censors cut one in which Judd Hirsch, who plays Mr. Goldblum's gemutlich, Yiddish-spouting father,
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Translations

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References

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  1. 1.0 1.1 gemütlich”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

German

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Etymology

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From Gemüt +‎ -lich.

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

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gemütlich (strong nominative masculine singular gemütlicher, comparative gemütlicher, superlative am gemütlichsten)

  1. cosy, gemütlich
    Synonym: behaglich
    Die neue Couch ist sehr gemütlich.
    The new couch is very cosy.

Declension

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Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • English: gemütlich
  • Esperanto: gemuta

Further reading

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