From German, "Sturm und Drang" means "storm and stress," or more precisely, "storm and urging or compulsion."

It was the title of a 1776 play by Friedrich Maximilian Klinger about two families feuding, and it was so catchy that it was soon adopted as the name of an entire movement in German art and literature. Works in this Sturm und Drang movement feature emotional turmoil or emotional extremes.

Sturm und Drang isn't just the artistic movement; it's also a catchy synonym in English for emotional turmoil, one that we've used since 1857 or so. 

In other words, Sturm und Drang is highly emotional drama, turmoil, or turbulence. If people are constantly screaming, fainting, lying, thieving, conniving, backstabbing, cheating, murdering, falling in love, keeping secrets, seeking revenge, breaking up, dying, and/or coming back from the dead, that's Sturm und Drang.

Part of speech:

Noun, the uncountable kind: "There was Sturm und Drang around their breakup."

Other forms: 

You can use this phrase as an adjective, choosing either to hyphenate it ("It was a Sturm-und-Drang breakup") or not ("It was a Sturm und Drang breakup"). I prefer the hyphens, for clarity.

Capital letters? Italics?

You can go either way on either! I prefer yes to the capitals, no to the italics.

If you use lowercase letters for this phrase, you're choosing to make it look more Englishy: "What's all this sturm und drang?" But most writers still use the German-style capitals: "What's all this Sturm und Drang?"

And if you choose to use italics, you're calling more attention to the phrase as well as make it seem more foreign: "What's all this Sturm und Drang?"

how to use it:

Pick the rare but easy-to-understand "Sturm und Drang" when you want a showy, dramatic term for showy, dramatic situations, real or fictional.

You could talk about the Sturm und Drang of life at middle school, or in a certain movie or show, or within a certain relationship or friend group. Or you could talk about events that take place amid all the Sturm und Drang, or behind, beneath, or above all the Sturm und Drang.

examples:

"No photos of me as a teen survived – I burned them all in one spectacular fit of teen Sturm und Drang."
  — Bim Adewunmi, The Guardian, 10 December 2016

"[The book The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge, and the World's Greatest Piece of Cheese] extracts maximum Sturm und Drang from the falling out between Ambrosio and Julián."   
  — Janet Maslin, New York Times, 22 July 2013

has this page helped you understand "Sturm und Drang"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "Sturm und Drang" without saying "upheaval" or "fervency."

try it out:

Fill in the blanks: "(Some book, movie, or show) has (something), (something else), and Sturm und Drang."

Example 1: "Season 4 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer has werewolves, witchcraft, bickering, breakups, and Sturm und Drang."

Example 2: "Fiona Sampson’s new study 'In Search of Mary Shelley'... [is] about what she calls the 'chewy' bits—the sex scandals, the haunted nights in Swiss villas, the Sturm und Drang."
  — Elizabeth Lowry, Wall Street Journal, 11 June 2018

If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.)

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month is "Name the Game!"

I'll share some tidbits about a particular board game with a one-word name, and you try to name it. 

You can scroll all the way down to see the game's real name. Maybe you'll come up with the correct name, or one that’s just as apt!

Try this one today:

The game's name is 3 syllables.

It starts with H.

"Incorporate the habitats in your landscapes wisely and have as many animals as you can settle there."

(It's not "Habitat" or "Habitats.")

review this word:

1. The opposite of STURM UND DRANG could be

A. PEACE AND QUIET.
B. FAME AND FORTUNE.
C. ALARUMS AND EXCURSIONS.

2. Like you might expect, VII: Sturm und Drang is the title of an album from the _____, featuring songs written during the lead singer's _____.

A. heavy metal band Lamb of God .. days of imprisonment for manslaughter
B. electronic band Depeche Mode .. period of greatest commercial success
C. Korean hip hop band Drunken Tiger .. most productive years of uniting Black and Korean culture

Answers to the review questions: 1. A 2. A From the game: Harmonies.

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.