existentialist

noun ex·is·ten·tial·ist \ ˌeg-(ˌ)zi-ˈsten(t)-shə-list , ˌek-(ˌ)si- \

|Updated on: 11 Jun 2018

Definition of existentialist

: an adherent of existentialism

Recent Examples of existentialist from the Web

What: In Good Company presents Jean Genet's classic existentialist drama about a pair of housemaids fantasizing about to killing their employer.

— theodore p. mahne, NOLA.com, "Intense production makes rare staging of Genet's 'The Maids' a standout," 1 June 2018
These difficult thoughts, most dramatically of death, have for Mr. Marino and his existentialists a galvanizing force.

— john kaag, WSJ, "‘The Existentialist’s Survival Guide’ Review: Choose Your Own Adventure," 10 May 2018
His philosophy has been adopted by Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists, Muslims, everyone from New Age thinkers to existentialists like Jean Paul Sartre, folks at odds with one another but sharing an attraction to his cosmic vision.

— john timpane, Philly.com, "'Dangerous Mystic': A true, gripping tale of a man's perilous search for God," 6 Apr. 2018
No Exit Real Art Daily Productions stages Sartre's existentialist fable about three strangers locked in a room together for all eternity.

— matt cooper, latimes.com, "The week ahead in L.A. theater, March 11-18: 'An Undivided Heart,' 'A 24-Decade History of Popular Music' and more," 11 Mar. 2018
Bakewell’s history, one of the Book Review’s 10 Best Books of 2016, serves as a collective biography of a half-dozen preeminent existentialist philosophers, including Heidegger, Sartre and de Beauvoir.

— joumana khatib, New York Times, "Paperback Row," 1 Sep. 2017
Yes, it's named for the French existentialist philosopher.

— polly campbell, Cincinnati.com, "4 things to know about Sartre Restaurant coming to OTR," 13 Aug. 2017
The 1965 French New Wave film, by director Jean-Luc Godard, is a hybrid of film noir and existentialist road movie in garish Technicolor.

— terence mcardle, Washington Post, "Going Out Guide for the District, June 22-28, 2017," 21 June 2017
Of getting lost in who people think you are!’ A prizefighter’s journey is an existentialist ideogram for life, and the real fight, the real fifteen rounds, occurs in the heart, at home.

— tad friend, The New Yorker, "Liev Schreiber Finds the Heart of Chuck Wepner," 22 May 2017

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.

First Known Use of existentialist

1930

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

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Other Philosophy Terms

dialectic, dualism, epistemology, existentialism, metaphysics, ontology, sequitur, solipsism, transcendentalism

existentialist

adjective

Definition of existentialist

: of or relating to existentialism or existentialists

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existentialistic

play \ˌeg-(ˌ)zi-ˌsten(t)-shə-ˈli-stik\ adjective

—

existentialistically

play \ˌeg-(ˌ)zi-ˌsten(t)-shə-ˈli-sti-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

Recent Examples of existentialist from the Web

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