existentialist

ex·is·ten·tial·ist | \ ˌeg-(ˌ)zi-ˈsten(t)-shə-list

How to pronounce existentialist (audio)

, ˌek-(ˌ)si- \

Definition of existentialist

(Entry 1 of 2)

: an adherent of existentialism

existentialist

Definition of existentialist (Entry 2 of 2)

: of or relating to existentialism or existentialists

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Examples of existentialist in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun And every self-respecting existentialist and jazz musician, including Simone DeBeauvoir and Miles Davis, signaled their hipness with this ebony knit. — Ephrat Livni, Quartzy, "The woke shopper’s one-item Zen gift guide," 23 Nov. 2019 The four are characters in The Good Place, a satirical comedy about an afterlife that’s best described as a mash-up of historic Christian notions of purgatory and French existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre’s play No Exit. — Matthew Robert Anderson, Quartzy, "“The Good Place” taps into our hunger for second chances and redemption," 27 Nov. 2019 Most surprising of all is that an existentialist show that doles out philosophy weekly managed to succeed in primetime. — Paula Bernstein, Fortune, "From ‘Modern Family’ to ‘Mr. Robot’: Some of Your Favorite TV Shows Are Saying Goodbye," 19 Sep. 2019 But Bacon, a thoroughgoing existentialist, didn’t have a spiritual bone in his body. — Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, "Artist Hyman Bloom’s body of work is revered. And the bodies are cadavers.," 31 July 2019 An exhibition in Boston features delightfully unsettling works with a sci-fi existentialist downer vibe. — Peter Plagens, WSJ, "‘Huma Bhabha: They Live’ Review: Spooky Sci-Fi Sculpture," 6 Apr. 2019 Kimberley French/Twentieth Century Fox In his 1944 play No Exit, the French existentialist thinker Jean-Paul Sartre trapped three strangers together in a drawing room and called it hell. — Alissa Wilkinson, Vox, "Bad Times at the El Royale turns a once-glamorous hotel into purgatory, with mixed results," 3 Oct. 2018 Paris was producing existentialist literature, but London had Bacon, the artist of existentialist life, a reckless gambler and homosexual masochist. — Dominic Green, WSJ, "‘Modernists & Mavericks’ Review: Art That Felt Like Reality," 15 June 2018 The Warriors had created a league of existentialists. — Ben Cohen, WSJ, "The Golden State Warriors Have Made the NBA Better," 27 May 2018 Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective Singer and turtleneck icon Juliette Gréco in 1946 co-founded the Paris club Le Tabou, which became famous for existentialist philosophy and jazz. — Ephrat Livni, Quartzy, "The woke shopper’s one-item Zen gift guide," 23 Nov. 2019 Morality, and its absence, is the novel’s defining theme: in this sense, Sagan is far more of a classicist than others of her existentialist brethren, such as Sartre and Camus. — Rachel Cusk, The New Yorker, "Françoise Sagan, the Great Interrogator of Morality," 21 Aug. 2019 Paris was producing existentialist literature, but London had Bacon, the artist of existentialist life, a reckless gambler and homosexual masochist. — Dominic Green, WSJ, "‘Modernists & Mavericks’ Review: Art That Felt Like Reality," 15 June 2018 And certain strands of her more recent work have a meditative, existentialist cast — a reminder of Ms. Piper’s initial hopes for the transcendent potential of abstraction. — Holland Cotter, New York Times, "Adrian Piper: The Thinking Canvas," 19 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'existentialist.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Dictionary Entries near existentialist

existential philosophy

existential psychology

Statistics for existentialist

Last Updated

24 Dec 2019

Cite this Entry

“Existentialist.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/existentialist. Accessed 19 January 2020.

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