Meanings
comparative more gemütlich · comparative gemütlicher · superlative most gemütlich · superlative gemütlichest · alternative gemuetlich · alternative gemutlich
- Comfortable, cosy, pleasant.
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.
2001 November 25, Hilton Als, “Unhappy Endings”, in The New Yorker, archived from the original on 09 Mar 20173 more examples
[She] takes splendid care of her husband, and looks after their five-room apartment, with its gemütlich mélange of plump hassocks and squashy chairs and cream-colored lace window curtains.
1966, Truman Capote, In Cold Blood, section 4, page 251Judy 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.
1972, Robertson Davies, The ManticoreUnderneath 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.
2023 June 7, Jennifer Szalai, “When ‘Regime Change’ Means Returning America to an Idealized Past”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 11 Aug 2023 - Friendly, genial, cheerful, easy-going.
The censors cut one in which Judd Hirsch, who plays Mr. Goldblum's gemutlich, Yiddish-spouting father,
1997 January 26, Judith Miller, “FILM: Making Money Abroad, And Also a Few Enemies”, in The New York Times, New York, archived from the original on 24 Jul 20201 more example
My mother, being gemütlich by nature, would, I believe, have loved to dispense with servants altogether.
1929, Robert Graves, chapter 2, in Good-Bye to All That, page 15
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Middle High Germangemüetlich
- Germangemütlich
- Englishgemütlich
Unadapted borrowing 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.
More words from German, Middle High German
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἀναπαυτικός, ἄνετος
- ἀναπαυτικός (anapautikós)cosy
- ἄνετος (ánetos)cosy
Danish hyggelig
- hyggeligcosy
Dutch gezellig
- gezelligcosy
Esperanto komforta, gemuta
- komfortacosy
- gemutacosy
- ujutnacosy
German gemütlich
- gemütlichcosy
Greek αναπαυτικός, άνετος
- αναπαυτικός (anapaftikós)cosy
- άνετος (ánetos)cosy
Polish przytulny
- przytulnycosy
Russian ую́тный
- ую́тный (ujútnyj)cosy
Slovak útulný
- útulnýcosy
Swedish hemtrevlig, gemytlig
- hemtrevligcosy
- gemytligcosy
Cite this entry
gemütlich. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gem%C3%BCtlich
“gemütlich.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gem%C3%BCtlich. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gemütlich,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gem%C3%BCtlich.
Source: gemütlich on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.