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

3

: concerned with or involving human existence or its nature : existentialist

an existential novel

existentially adverb

Synonyms of existential

• empirical
• 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

Moret also emphasized the pressing need to solve various existential issues facing the future of film projection itself. —Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 12 May 2026

Being middle class comes with a fear of losing a specific sense of safety; the existential quest is finding out if there’s more to life than clutching onto your stuff in anticipatory panic. —Francesco Pacifico, The Dial, 12 May 2026

What this adaptation does offer is a deeper examination of genius as an existential burden in a society that enables others to co-opt it, monetize it, and use it as part of an agenda. —Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 11 May 2026

Its co-founders, former a16z partner Jack Soslow and former Apple and Tenyx machine learning lead Jack Weissenberger, see AI adoption as an existential issue for the mid-market companies their startup is focused on servicing. —Jack Kubinec, Fortune, 11 May 2026

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
• exponential
• influential
• nonessential
• penitential
• precedential
• preferential
• presidential
• providential
• referential
• residential