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

Their motivation is existential survival, calculating that a weak central state better protects communal interests than HTS dominance. —Güney Yıldız, Forbes.com, 31 July 2025

After years of fighting an existential battle for the league’s survival, WNBA players enter this bargaining cycle with a rare power: leverage. —Jenna West, New York Times, 31 July 2025

But for public school advocates, the fight against school vouchers has been existential. —Keri Heath, Austin American Statesman, 30 July 2025

Del Water Gap can’t get out of his own head, an existential maze where he gets lost in old memories and trips over threads of what could have been if only a few things had been different. —Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 28 July 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