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

Every team enters September with unanswered questions, from schematic transitions to new personnel in new places, and some are even existential. — Ted Nguyen, New York Times, 7 Sep. 2026

The invisibility offered a protective cloak, allowing his existential confessionals to develop free of the expectations placed upon Sage Elsesser, pro skateboarder. — Jeff Weiss, Los Angeles Times, 7 Sep. 2026

The purchase of a simple birthday cake for their son can become an existential dilemma — not because of the price but because of other forms of humiliation that lie in wait around the act. — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 6 Sep. 2026

If this is a moment of existential crisis for the DIY festival where a city is erected then burned, that’s of no concern to our guide. — Kevin Dolak, HollywoodReporter, 5 Sep. 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