meaning: atmosphere of comfort, peace and acceptance
First of all: don’t be fooled by dictionaries that try to tell you that Gemütlichkeit is merely a translation of the English word “coziness”. There is much more to the feeling of Gemütlichkeit than sitting on a cozy sofa in your comfy clothes.
The word’s more precise meaning of being completely at peace and rest, optimally together with the people you have the deepest connection to, must have been a crucial point in the 2019 vote for the most beautiful German word, conducted by the “Deutsch Perfekt” magazine.
Interestingly enough, the second place was given to the word Schmetterling – which I always believed was notoriously harsh sounding compared to its international counterparts (butterfly, papillon, mariposa…)
References:
https://www.deutsch-perfekt.com/deutsch-lesen/gemuetlichkeit-das-schoenste-deutsche-wort
