gestures
Loading your saved state.
gestures
The totality of the movements someone makes, especially with the hands and arms, to emphasize what is being said or to express feelings.
Seine lebhafte Gestik unterstrich die Dringlichkeit seiner Worte.
His lively gestures emphasized the urgency of his words.
'Gestik' (gestures/body language) is an uncountable noun and describes the totality or type of a person's body movements, not a single movement. It is always used in the singular in German.
Ihre ruhige Gestik wirkte sehr professionell.
Her calm gestures seemed very professional.
Common adjectives used with 'Gestik' (gestures/body language) are 'lebhaft' (lively), 'ausdrucksstark' (expressive), 'übertrieben' (exaggerated), or 'zurückhaltend' (reserved). Typical verbs are 'eine ... Gestik haben' (to have ... gestures/body language) or 'Gestik einsetzen' (to use gestures/body language).
Der Redner überzeugte mit seiner ausdrucksstarken Gestik.
The speaker won people over with his expressive gestures.
'Gestik' (gestures/body language) is very often used together with 'Mimik' (facial expression). The pair 'Gestik und Mimik' (gestures and facial expressions) describes a person's entire nonverbal communication.
Ein guter Schauspieler muss seine Gestik und Mimik perfekt beherrschen.
A good actor must have perfect control of their gestures and facial expressions.
gesture
A Geste is usually a single movement that expresses or accompanies something. Gestik, by contrast, refers to the totality of a person’s hand and arm movements. Use Geste for a specific sign and Gestik for someone’s overall movement while speaking.
Mit seiner lebhaften Gestik unterstrich der Redner den gesamten Vortrag.
With his lively gestures, the speaker emphasized the entire presentation.
Mit einer kurzen Geste zeigte der Redner auf die leere Bühne.
With a brief gesture, the speaker pointed to the empty stage.
