Everyday · Philosophy & belief
Existential: meaning, pronunciation and examples
Existential adjective. Relating to existence itself, especially to the questions of why we exist and how to live with meaning.
How to say it
eg-zih-STEN-shul/ˌɛɡzɪˈstɛnʃ(ə)l/
4 syllables, stressed on the third (STEN). Forms: existentially, existentialism.
Meanings
- Relating to existence itself, especially to the questions of why we exist and how to live with meaning.
- Threatening the very survival of something, as in an existential threat.
Existential in a sentence
Turning forty sent him into an existential spiral over a single slice of birthday cake.
For small high-street bookshops, online giants posed an existential threat.
Similar and opposite
Similar:
- philosophical
- fundamental
Where existential comes from
From late Latin existentialis, from existentia, existence; the modern sense grew from 20th-century existentialism.
Test yourself
Which word fills the gap?
For small high-street bookshops, online giants posed an _____ threat.
- existential
- inchoate
- chrematistic
Show the answer
existential: For small high-street bookshops, online giants posed an existential threat.