existence
Americannoun
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the fact or state of existing; being
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the continuance or maintenance of life; living, esp in adverse circumstances
a struggle for existence
she has a wretched existence
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something that exists; a being or entity
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everything that exists, esp that is living
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of existence
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Late Latin word ex(s)istentia. See exist, -ence
Explanation
Existence is the state of being alive or being real. For example, you and your best friend disagree about the existence of Bigfoot if you think it's real and your friend doesn't. The noun existence can be used many different ways, but it always has to do with being alive or with simply "being". You can talk about the survival of something as its existence, like your yo-yo club having lost so many members that its existence is in danger. The particular way you live is another meaning of existence; if you live a quiet, lonely life in the country, you could describe it as a solitary existence.
Vocabulary lists containing existence
Commonly Misspelled Words, List 1
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List 2
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List 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
And while those movies, just like “Esta Isla,” don’t address the socioeconomic issues facing Puerto Ricans didactically, their mere existence is in itself a statement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
For most of human existence, we have lived in the shadow of starvation: Our bodies evolved to stockpile energy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
The region's hardscrabble existence is perhaps best illustrated in Dollywood's full-size replica of the humble two-room log cabin where Parton grew up with her 11 brothers and sisters in Locust Ridge, outside Sevierville.
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
His existence would account for the reference on the tablet and could also explain the identity of a royal figure shown in a statue discovered at Aššur.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 26, 2026
Traveler’s Rachel was supposed to be some abstract figure, some girl who was probably perfectly nice and missed out on the most wonderful boy in all existence.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
He would also elevate his competitors, giving them chances to introduce themselves to audiences that would otherwise remain ignorant of their existences.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2025
Sold as the ultimate work-life balance, the firm's brain microchip procedure splits a person's consciousness and memory into dual existences.
From BBC ● Jan. 17, 2025
They live two separate existences, with one being a lonely, singular experience of grief.
From Salon ● Oct. 26, 2024
We have given the keys to our once-private analog existences over to the wealthiest companies in human history.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2024
He experienced them, the others, incorporated the babble of their thoughts, heard in his own brain the noise of their many individual existences.
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
