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
• observational
• objective
• experimental

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

In an existential crisis triggered by critical illness or its complications, how does anyone restore emotional balance, chart a return to hope, or move towards acceptance? —K.j.s. “sunny” Anand, Time, 15 Oct. 2025

The heist comes off as an acte gratuit—André Gide’s term for an action whose motivelessness is an assertion of freedom—and gives rise to the existential adventure of a hunted man on the run. —Richard Brody, New Yorker, 15 Oct. 2025

At 14, Pari Singh made just enough money to stir up an existential crisis. —Allie Garfinkle, Fortune, 14 Oct. 2025

Mark Carney, Canada’s current Prime Minister, surged in the polls and won an April snap election under the shadow of what felt like an existential threat on the other side of the border. —Joe Kozlowski, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Oct. 2025

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

Rhymes for existential

• consequential
• deferential
• evidential
• exponential
• influential
• nonessential
• penitential
• precedential
• preferential
• presidential
• providential
• referential