existential
adjective
ex·is·ten·tial
ˌeg-(ˌ)zi-ˈsten(t)-shəl 
ˌek-(ˌ)si-
1
: of, relating to, or affirming existence
existential propositions
an existential crisis
the existential threat of climate change
2
a
: grounded in existence or the experience of existence : empirical
existential phenomenology
b
: having being in time and space
… abstractions, ideal gauges without claim to existential reality …—
W. Wolfgang Holdheim
W. Wolfgang Holdheim3
: concerned with or involving human existence or its nature : existentialist
an existential novel
existentially
adverb
Synonyms of existential
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
Netanyahu has broadcast the existential threat of Iran’s nuclear ambitions since the mid-2000s.
—Jennifer Lutz, New York Daily News, 11 Apr. 2026
Kawamura has also given us a genuinely genius take on the waking existential crisis that is 21st century living.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 10 Apr. 2026
But there is a more general dread about human vulnerability to technology—a growing existential fear that people are losing the authorship and agency of their own lives to, particularly, artificial intelligence—that will be reflected in an avalanche of related negligent-design legal claims.
—Jeannie Suk Gersen, New Yorker, 9 Apr. 2026
That the restaurant lunch service not only survived but is thriving in the wake of the pandemic — an existential threat to its business model — is reason enough to remind returning Chicago office workers that Fooda is still there.
—Robert Channick, Chicago Tribune, 9 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for existential
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Jennifer Lutz, New York Daily News, 11 Apr. 2026
Kawamura has also given us a genuinely genius take on the waking existential crisis that is 21st century living.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 10 Apr. 2026
But there is a more general dread about human vulnerability to technology—a growing existential fear that people are losing the authorship and agency of their own lives to, particularly, artificial intelligence—that will be reflected in an avalanche of related negligent-design legal claims.
—Jeannie Suk Gersen, New Yorker, 9 Apr. 2026
That the restaurant lunch service not only survived but is thriving in the wake of the pandemic — an existential threat to its business model — is reason enough to remind returning Chicago office workers that Fooda is still there.
—Robert Channick, Chicago Tribune, 9 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for existential
Cite this Entry
“Existential.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/existential. Accessed 16 Apr. 2026.
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