as in empirical
based on observation or experience
child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim believed that fairy tales help children cope with their existential anxieties and dilemmas
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Recent Examples of existential
But silence in the face of existential danger isn’t wisdom or prudence.
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Jonathan Zimmerman, New York Daily News, 17 Dec. 2024
While some still insist Trump’s re-election remains an existential threat, those voices have become more muted.
—Hanna Trudo, The Hill, 15 Dec. 2024
Dinosaurs bring up existential questions Couples bundled up in coats and winter hats bumped up against strollers in the museum's hall of dinosaurs, many holding up smartphones to take photos of their favorite species, like a triceratops or a tyrannosaurus-rex.
—Claire Thornton, USA TODAY, 14 Dec. 2024
All six companies scaled particularly badly on their existential safety strategies.
—IEEE Spectrum, 13 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for existential 
Jonathan Zimmerman, New York Daily News, 17 Dec. 2024
While some still insist Trump’s re-election remains an existential threat, those voices have become more muted.
—Hanna Trudo, The Hill, 15 Dec. 2024
Dinosaurs bring up existential questions Couples bundled up in coats and winter hats bumped up against strollers in the museum's hall of dinosaurs, many holding up smartphones to take photos of their favorite species, like a triceratops or a tyrannosaurus-rex.
—Claire Thornton, USA TODAY, 14 Dec. 2024
All six companies scaled particularly badly on their existential safety strategies.
—IEEE Spectrum, 13 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for existential
Recent Examples of Synonyms for existential
Adjective
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Currently, there is no empirical data to support these theories, but that hasn't stopped physicists from exploring them as fascinating possibilities.Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 23 Dec. 2024
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Much like Moore’s Law, scaling laws are not in fact laws but rather simply empirical observations.Rob Toews, Forbes, 22 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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And, since a higher EQ is linked to all sorts of positive subjective and objective career benefits, including superior management and leadership skills, a positive appreciation of candidates’ impression management during the interview is in effect an accurate validation of their EQ.Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Forbes, 16 Dec. 2024
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The Public Policy Institute of California, a think tank that conducts vigorous and objective research into vital state issues, is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a series of retrospective reports.Dan Walters, The Mercury News, 13 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Considered by the space agency as a 30-day technology demonstration of no more than five experimental test flights, the 4-pound chopper performed 72 flights for nearly three years at Mars.Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 18 Dec. 2024
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Her doctor, Jayme Locke, then an abdominal transplant surgeon at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, had previously led short-term pig kidney transplants in brain-dead recipients and suggested the experimental procedure as a last resort.Emily Mullin, WIRED, 17 Dec. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Existential.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/existential. Accessed 31 Dec. 2024.
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