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echt

American  
[ekht] / ɛxt /

adjective

German.
  1. real; authentic; genuine.


echt British  
/ ɛçt, ɛkt /

adjective

  1. real; genuine; authentic

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Explanation

Something that's echt is true or authentic. An echt friend would never throw a party without inviting you! In German, the word echt means "genuine." The Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw is credited with being the first to use it in English, in a 1916 article. You can try out this uncommon adjective whenever you're looking for a new way to describe something or someone as bona fide, authentic, or the real deal: "You've got six kitties? Wow, you're an echt cat lover!"

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Vocabulary lists containing echt

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Salesforce CEO Mark Benioff was long regarded as an echt San Francisco liberal billionaire.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 4, 2025

Regardless, the only way to have an echt cream today, that would make Auster proud, is to make one yourself.

From Salon • Apr. 5, 2022

The quartet was, you might say, echt Viennese.

From New York Times • Jun. 14, 2020

LACMA’s Minimalist design isn’t bold or progressive; it’s echt establishment.

From Los Angeles Times • May 13, 2019

Never again will I attempt to select "echt Amerikanische" clothes for a woman who must not weary her young husband.

From Dawn O'Hara, the Girl Who Laughed by Ferber, Edna

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