gottselig
German, adjective/ɡɔtˈzeːlɪç/
gottselig is a German adjective meaning “pietistic, filled with deep religiosity, possibly rapturous or zealous” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also an emphatic form of selig (“late, having died in God's mercy”). The German Wiktionary defines it as “heuchlerisch, fromm”.
What does gottselig mean in English?
adjective
- 1
archaicdevout, pious, godly; now hardly of persons, slightly less odd of deeds, lifestyles etc.
ein gottseliges Leben führen
- 2
datedderogatorypietistic, filled with deep religiosity, possibly rapturous or zealous
- 3
rareemphatic form of selig (“late, having died in God's mercy”)
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. heuchlerisch, fromm 2. fromm, gottesfürchtig
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of gottselig
- gottseliger masculine nominative singular
- am gottseligsten superlative
- gottselige feminine nominative singular
- gottseliges neuter nominative singular
- gottseligen genitive masculine singular
- gottseligem dative masculine singular
- der gottselige definite includes-article masculine
- die gottselige definite feminine includes-article
- das gottselige definite includes-article neuter
- die gottseligen definite includes-article nominative
- des gottseligen definite genitive includes-article
- der gottseligen definite feminine genitive
- dem gottseligen dative definite includes-article
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce gottselig?
- /ɡɔtˈzeːlɪç/
- [ɡɔtˈzeːlɪç]
- [ˈɡɔtˌzeːlɪç]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
How common is gottselig in German?
gottselig appears about once in every 68 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).