Sample sentences for EXISTENTIAL

2 meanings

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1 —as in:
existential threat

Definition

relating to or dealing with existence — especially with human existence

Israel faces an existential threat from some of its neighbors.

existential = characterized by threatening existence

Other Uses (with this meaning)

The loss of the buffalo was an existential blow to the Apache culture.

existential = relating to existence

McCandless wasn't some feckless slacker, adrift and confused, racked by existential despair.
Jon Krakauer -- Into the Wild

existential = related to searching for meaning or direction in life

In 1977, while brooding on a Colorado barstool, picking unhappily at my existential scabs, I got it into my head to climb a mountain called the Devils Thumb.
Jon Krakauer -- Into the Wild

existential = related to searching for meaning or direction in life

Dictionary / pronunciation — Google^®Dictionary list — Onelook.com^®

2 —as in:
existential philosophy

Definition

relating to existentialism; a philosophical movement that assumes each person is free to determine what is essential in his/her existence rather than that being determined by a god and/or authority figures

It was a moment of existential angst when nothing made sense any more.

existential = relating to knowing what is important

Other Uses (with this meaning)

Kierkegaard is widely regarded as the founder of modern existentialism.

existentialism = a philosophical movement that assumes each person is free to determine what is essential in his/her existence rather than that being determined by a god and/or authority figures

In Notes from the Underground, Dostoyevsky expressed that Christian love can save humanity from the destruction of existentialism, but it cannot be understood rationally.

existentialism = the philosophical belief that each person is free to determine what is essential in his/her existence

I liked that he took existentially fraught free throws.
John Green -- The Fault in Our Stars

existentially = in a manner that relates to existentialism — a philosophical movement concerned with meaning (or lack thereof) of life

Abraham Maslow, I present to you Augustus Waters, whose existential curiosity dwarfed that of his well-fed, well-loved, healthy brethren.
John Green -- The Fault in Our Stars

existential = relating to existentialism; a philosophical movement concerned with meaning (or lack thereof) of life

The day of the existentially fraught free throws was coincidentally also my last day of dual leggedness.
John Green -- The Fault in Our Stars

existentially = relating to existentialism; a philosophical movement concerned with meaning (or lack thereof) of life

There was this tunnel that these two kids kept crawling through over and over and they never seemed to get tired, which made me think of Augustus Waters and the existentially fraught free throws.
John Green -- The Fault in Our Stars

existentially = relating to existentialism; a philosophical movement concerned with meaning (or lack thereof) of life

I was beginning to think that I was the subject of some existentialist experiment in permanently delayed gratification when Dr. Maria showed up on Friday morning, sniffed around me for a minute, and told me I was good to go.
John Green -- The Fault in Our Stars

existentialist = relating to existentialism; a philosophical movement concerned with meaning (or lack thereof) of life

Zayd (like most everyone in the three-hundred-seat lecture hall for Existentialism) thinks Reginster is about the coolest human being anywhere.
Ron Suskind -- A Hope in the Unseen
And if we can manage a few closing comments on Sartre and Existentialism, our plan can be put into operation.
Jostein Gaarder -- Sophie's World

Dictionary / pronunciation — Google^®Dictionary list — Onelook.com^®Wikipedia Article

Less commonly:

Much more rarely, in logic, an "existential quantifier" denotes the existence of a member in a set to which something is applicable. It is contrasted to a universal quantifier which applies to all members of a set. For example: What is the scope of the existential quantifier?

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