existential

adjective

ex·​is·​ten·​tial ˌeg-(ˌ)zi-ˈsten(t)-shəl 

ˌek-(ˌ)si-

1

: of, relating to, or affirming existence

existential propositions

2

a

: grounded in existence or the experience of existence : empirical

b

: having being in time and space

3

: existentialist

existentially adverb

Synonyms

• empirical
• empiric
• experiential
• experimental
• objective
• observational

Examples of existential in a Sentence

child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim believed that fairy tales help children cope with their existential anxieties and dilemmas

Recent Examples on the Web

As to a hammer everything looks like a nail, so to the multitrillion-dollar military-industrial-security complex everything looks like an existential threat — even China building roads in the Solomon Islands or buying farmland in the United States. —Bruce Fein, Baltimore Sun, 19 Dec. 2024

Announcements like Google’s, which seem to herald a leap in quantum technology, automatically induce fear due to their seemingly existential threat to traditional cryptography, and, thus crypto. —Nimrod Lehavi, Forbes, 19 Dec. 2024

Advertisement World & Nation Bluff or existential threat? —Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times, 18 Dec. 2024

If this show ends up prioritizing existential thrills over visceral action, that’s fine by me. —Vulture Editors, Vulture, 18 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Late Latin existentiālis, exsistentiālis, from existentia, exsistentia existence + Latin -ālis -al entry 1; in the 19th and 20th centuries in part as translation of Danish existentiel (later eksistentiel) & German existentiell

Note: Compare "Existentielt Indlæg" ("existential contribution") in the subtitle of Søren Kierkegaard's Afsluttende uvidenskabelig Efterskrift til de philosophiske Smuler (1846; Concluding Unscientific Postscript to the Philosophical Fragments), used also elsewhere in the work.

First Known Use

1656, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing existential

• existential quantifier