NYT Dictionary

ECHT

/ɛkt/

AdjectiveEKSTAdvanced/Professional

Accepted in official NYT Spelling Bee puzzle years: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026

Meaning

Proper, real, genuine, true to type.

Etymology

Origin: German

Borrowed from German echt (“real”). The German term originates from Middle Low German echt (“lawful, genuine”), contraction of ehacht, variant form of ehaft (“lawful, pertaining to the law”) from ê(e) (“law, marriage”), from Proto-West Germanic *aiw. First use in English appears c. 1916.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

genuine

Antonyms

counterfeit

NYT Puzzle Appearances

No published puzzle dates on file for this word yet. It is part of the official NYT Spelling Bee word list for 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026.