existentialism

[ eg-zi-sten-shuh-liz-uhm, ek-si- ]

/ ˌɛg zɪˈstɛn ʃəˌlɪz əm, ˌɛk sɪ- /

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noun Philosophy.

a philosophical movement that stresses the individual's unique position as a self-determining agent responsible for making meaningful, authentic choices in a universe seen as purposeless or irrational: existentialism is associated especially with Heidegger, Jaspers, Marcel, and Sartre, and is opposed to philosophical rationalism and empiricism.

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Origin of existentialism

First recorded in 1940–45; from German Existentialismus (1919); see existential, -ism

OTHER WORDS FROM existentialism

ex·is·ten·tial·ist, adjective, nounex·is·ten·tial·is·tic, adjectiveex·is·ten·tial·is·ti·cal·ly, adverbnon·ex·is·ten·tial·ism, noun

Words nearby existentialism

exist, existence, existence theorem, existent, existential, existentialism, existential psychology, existential quantifier, existing, exit, exitance

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use existentialism in a sentence

At a gas station I read a Twitter thread by the novelist Michael Chabon, a Californian, about nihilism versus existentialism.
California’s Forever Fire|by Elizabeth Weil, ProPublica, photography by Meridith Kohut for The New York Times Magazine|January 3, 2022|ProPublica
At the center of this existentialism is the question of what we become when society and civilization fail us.
The horror century|Aja Romano|October 25, 2021|Vox
You Deserve Nothing by Alexander Maksik A thought-provoking debut that mixes existentialism with cool Parisian intrigue.
This Week’s Hot Reads||September 26, 2011|DAILY BEAST
“It all goes back to existentialism,” she says of her career.
From Porn to the Multiplex|Glenn Kenny|May 14, 2009|DAILY BEAST

She talks to Glenn Kenny about dirty films, sexual existentialism—and turning 21.
From Porn to the Multiplex|Glenn Kenny|May 14, 2009|DAILY BEAST

British Dictionary definitions for existentialism

existentialism

/ (ˌɛɡzɪˈstɛnʃəˌlɪzəm) /

noun

a modern philosophical movement stressing the importance of personal experience and responsibility and the demands that they make on the individual, who is seen as a free agent in a deterministic and seemingly meaningless universe

Derived forms of existentialism

existentialist, adjective, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for existentialism

existentialism

A movement in twentieth-century literature and philosophy, with some forerunners in earlier centuries. Existentialism stresses that people are entirely free and therefore responsible for what they make of themselves. With this responsibility comes a profound anguish or dread. Søren Kierkegaard and Feodor Dostoyevsky in the nineteenth century, and Jean-Paul Sartre, Martin Heidegger, and Albert Camus in the twentieth century, were existentialist writers.