as in empirical
based on observation or experience
child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim believed that fairy tales help children cope with their existential anxieties and dilemmas
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Recent Examples of existential
What happens instead propels both on a spiritual, existential journey that challenges their beliefs.
—
Randy Myers, Mercury News, 30 May 2025
Today, writers, journalists and creatives across every medium are facing a new kind of existential threat to their professions from the interests of Silicon Valley.
—Sarah Montana, HollywoodReporter, 29 May 2025
Beyond the practical challenges lies a deeper, more existential question—one that has echoed through colloquies of faculty athletic reps in league meetings this month: Is the job still worth having if it’s excluded from determining the new governance of college sports?
—Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 29 May 2025
Rob Crossan January 17, 2025 Marketed as a luxury tourist destination, the Maldives struggles with the legacy of an authoritarian government and the existential threat of climate change.
—The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 23 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for existential
Randy Myers, Mercury News, 30 May 2025
Today, writers, journalists and creatives across every medium are facing a new kind of existential threat to their professions from the interests of Silicon Valley.
—Sarah Montana, HollywoodReporter, 29 May 2025
Beyond the practical challenges lies a deeper, more existential question—one that has echoed through colloquies of faculty athletic reps in league meetings this month: Is the job still worth having if it’s excluded from determining the new governance of college sports?
—Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 29 May 2025
Rob Crossan January 17, 2025 Marketed as a luxury tourist destination, the Maldives struggles with the legacy of an authoritarian government and the existential threat of climate change.
—The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 23 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for existential
Recent Examples of Synonyms for existential
Adjective
-
Instead the internet and social media accelerated a process in which the whole notion of an empirical truth has become watered down and distorted.—
Brent Lang,
Variety,
15 May 2025
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Decisions were made on the basis of rigorous empirical research and vetting through the minds of the experts — the men and women who led the agencies.—
Michael Eric Siegel,
Baltimore Sun,
17 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
The idea that there are no objective facts, only perceptions, has gained currency in recent decades.—
James T. Kloppenberg,
Time,
28 May 2025
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In this reality, truth becomes less about objective absolutes and more about process.—
Rhea Wessel,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2025
Adjective
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These experimental vaccines appear to provide slightly stronger protection against both variants.—
Alice Park,
Time,
28 May 2025
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For example, my agency recently shot an experimental commercial for a carmaker that leveraged a hybrid approach to create alternate versions—one in snow and one in the desert.—
Dustin Callif,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Existential.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/existential. Accessed 5 Jun. 2025.
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