Meanings
verfremdungseffekt1
plural verfremdungseffekte
- Alternative letter-case form of Verfremdungseffekt.
Verfremdungseffekt2
plural Verfremdungseffekte · alternative verfremdungseffekt
- entertainmentBrecht's distancing effect.
In the 1960s, Christopher Goodwin, who's in this production, worked with someone from [Brecht's theatre]^([sic]) the Berliner Ensemble and dared to ask her about the Verfremdungseffekt. And she went: “It's just something he said at a lunchtime.”
2026 April 4, Mark Gratiss, “‘Here’s what happened, Brecht warns. Don’t let it happen again’”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 121 more example
Brecht's famous ‘Verfremdungseffekte’^([sic]) or ‘alienation effect’, intended to counter the magical associations of stage illusion and the tendency for spellbound audiences to identify emotionally with characters on stage, both of which Brecht found abhorrent.
1997 May, Clive Barker, Simon Trussler, editors, New Theatre Quarterly, volume 13, number 50, page 114Synonyms: alienation, estrangement
Synonyms & antonyms
nounBrecht's distancing effect.
Origin
- GermanVerfremdungseffekt
- GermanVerfremdungseffekt
- EnglishVerfremdungseffekt
Borrowed from German Verfremdungseffekt.
More words from German
Full word history & related roots →Translations
German Verfremdungseffekt
- VerfremdungseffektVerfremdungseffekt
Japanese 異化効果
- 異化効果 (ika kōka)Verfremdungseffekt
Cite this entry
verfremdungseffekt. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/verfremdungseffekt
“verfremdungseffekt.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/verfremdungseffekt. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “verfremdungseffekt,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/verfremdungseffekt.
Source: verfremdungseffekt on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.