ontological

American  

[on-tl-oj-i-kuhl] / ˌɒn tlˈɒdʒ ɪ kəl /

Sometimes ontologic,

adjective

1. of or relating to ontology, the branch of metaphysics that studies the nature of existence or being as such; metaphysical.

   Some of the U.S. founders held an ontological belief in natural rights.

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Other Word Forms

• nonontological
  adjective
• unontological
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of ontological

First recorded in 1700–10; ontolog(y) ( def. ) + -ical ( def. )

Explanation

Things that have to do with the nature of being are ontological, like your ontological question about the Loch Ness Monster — do we have to have proof in order for something to exist? The study of being, is called ontology, so an ontological argument might investigate whether God — or people, for that matter — really exist. Are we real or just an imagined phenomenon? How do we know we aren't just characters in our creator's mind? These are heavy questions — philosophers including Aristotle, Parmenides, Descartes, Hume, Kant have all weighed in on the ontological question of “what can we be certain exists?”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ontological

Writing for the majority, Justice Kavanaugh painstakingly selects his words to avoid the ontological question, as if touching it might break something fragile.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

But the ontological distinction was lost at the start: events don't exist, they happen.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 2, 2025

Whatever Ramona wanted in the car, she’s experiencing ontological buyer’s remorse in the now.

From Salon ● Mar. 31, 2025

I think that’s important, as an ontological model of cinema.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2024

Yet Seneca, in strict theory, probably never became a dissenter from the physical or ontological creed of his school.

From Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius by Samuel Dill

Related Words

• existential
• metaphysical