as in empirical
based on observation or experience
child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim believed that fairy tales help children cope with their existential anxieties and dilemmas
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of existential
As the young pop superstars abandon partying down for just feeling down, their existential crisis presents an opportunity for an inexhaustible 67-year-old.
—
Scottie Andrew, CNN Money, 2 June 2026
In an unequal society, the stakes of politics become existential.
—Sarita Gupta, Time, 2 June 2026
Dawson notes the company views the initiative not just as economic and cultural but as existential.
—Lyssanoel Frater, USA Today, 2 June 2026
Leaders who have been through a cycle of economic downturns will have developed a strong sense of which challenges are existential and which are temporary.
—David Morel, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for existential
Scottie Andrew, CNN Money, 2 June 2026
In an unequal society, the stakes of politics become existential.
—Sarita Gupta, Time, 2 June 2026
Dawson notes the company views the initiative not just as economic and cultural but as existential.
—Lyssanoel Frater, USA Today, 2 June 2026
Leaders who have been through a cycle of economic downturns will have developed a strong sense of which challenges are existential and which are temporary.
—David Morel, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for existential
Recent Examples of Synonyms for existential
Adjective
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However, despite popular anecdotal evidence that kratom can ease opioid addiction withdrawal symptoms, there is empirical evidence that kratom itself can become addictive.—
Scott Lafee,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
2 June 2026
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Only 2 percent of investments have gone to circular businesses, according to estimates in the Circularity Gap Report Finance in 2025, the world’s first empirical study that quantified the financial streams to circular business models.—
Roy Stephen Canivel,
Footwear News,
2 June 2026
Adjective
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Since the study is observational, whether the gut microbiome findings were causing bowel issues or whether abnormal bowel function changed the gut microbiome is unclear, Preidis said.—
Kristen Rogers,
CNN Money,
8 June 2026
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While the mission was designed with dark energy, dark matter, and exoplanets in mind, Roman’s unprecedented observational capability will offer practically limitless opportunities for astronomers to explore all kinds of cosmic topics.—
Richard Tribou,
The Orlando Sentinel,
4 June 2026
Adjective
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Even in the early 21st century, there was no objective way to benchmark how well players had performed.—
Jack Pitt-Brooke,
New York Times,
2 June 2026
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How The Ghost Lap Philosophy Drives Organizational Excellence In the racing world, the ghost lap is an objective, unambiguous training tool.—
Brendan Keegan,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2026
Adjective
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Since the electron’s motional states are quantized, the resonator adopts one or two states during the experimental procedure, which is the potential building block of a qubit.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
3 June 2026
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This experimental collaboration between a Guatemalan cellist and an American guitarist was conceived when Fratti, the cellist, praised Orcutt’s work publicly, prompting the latter to get in touch — the two worked on the album mostly in remote sessions.—
Brendan Ruberry,
semafor.com,
3 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Existential.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/existential. Accessed 9 Jun. 2026.
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