How to use existential in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective

Existential means of or relating to existence. Example: “"The monadic existential quantifier ∃, as in ∃x, may express existence of x in formal logic or mathematics".”

Examples of existential by meaning

adjectiveOf or relating to existence.

Most of the subjects had terminal cancer, and several died within a year after the trial—but not before having a mental adventure that appeared to have eased the existential gloom of their last days.2014 March 3, Benedict Carey, “LSD, reconsidered for therapy”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN...

adjectiveConcerning the very existence of something, especially with regard to evading extinction.

an existential risk or threat
He proposes that man's only way out of existential dread is through a "leap into faith" which reconciles man with himself and with God, and provides an experience of the absolute which transcends mere sense experience.1977, Joan E. Sieber, “Development of the Concept of Anxiety”, in Joan E. Sieber; Harold F. O’Neil, Jr.; Sigmund Tobias, Anxiety, Learning...
Here, therefore, we seek to assemble and assess the evidence to provide an overview of how serious trade is as an existential threat to avian taxa in Sundaic Indonesia.2015, J[ames] A. Eaton [et al.], “Trade-driven Extinctions and Near-extinctions of Avian Taxa in Sundaic Indonesia”, in Forktail: Journal...

adjectiveOf an assertion, etc.: assuming or suggesting the existence of something.

The answer to the one question is given in an existential judgment or proposition.1902, William James, “Lecture I”, in The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature […] , New York, N.Y.; London: Longmans...

adjectiveOf or relating to existentialism (“a philosophical movement emphasizing the uniqueness of each human existence in...

Some existential thinkers are concerned with artistic expression only indirectly, that is, they are passionately interested critics and analysts of art works.1967, Thomas [Louis] Hanna, “Albert Camus: Man in Revolt”, in George Alfred Schrader, Jr., editor, Existential Philosophers: Kierkegaard to...

More sentences with existential

"The monadic existential quantifier ∃, as in ∃x, may express existence of x in formal logic or mathematics".From the entry monadic
The statement Jesus exists is a singular existential statement, because it is a singular statement and it states the existence of its subject.From the entry singular existential statement
Some saw the existential threat to Scots as a call to document what remained.2023, Clive Young, “chapter three: From Union to Devolution”, in Unlocking Scots: The Secret Life of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Luath…. From the entry despondency
Why, when governments know we’re facing existential risk, do they fail to act?2023 July 15, George Monbiot, “With our food systems on the verge of collapse, it’s the plutocrats v life on Earth”, in The Guardian, →ISSN. From the entry existential risk
Ultimately, I reach the most penultimate existential questions: “What is the meaning of this?2022 February 10, Ethan Marshall, “Is written media dead?”, in The Glasgow Guardian. From the entry penultimate
Scala 2 supported existential types, a way of abstracting over types.2021, Dean Wampler, chapter 16, in Programming Scala, 3rd edition, O'Reilly, →ISBN. From the entry existential type
Their research helps to explain why managers in this corner of quantland are full of existential doubts.2020 February 6, Justina Lee, “Pioneers of Value Investing Are Trying to See If It's Dead”, in Bloomberg, New York, N.Y.: Bloomberg L.P.…. From the entry quantland
Autofiction reveals existential motives for writing, raising them to the status of components in the autobiographical debate.2019, Martina Wagner-Egelhaaf, editor, Handbook of Autobiography / Autofiction, Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 245. From the entry autofiction
But a Quexit's threat to Canada would be existential, in itself.2016 June 29, Andrew Coyne, “Brexit no model for Quexit”, in National Post. From the entry Quexit
The existential approach to therapy is philosophical, involving exploration of what it means to be alive.2015, Alan Meaden, Innovations in Psychosocial Interventions for Psychosis. From the entry therapy
That's because the answers to our existential questions are not found under the sun.2014, Derrick McCarson, “The Search for Meaning (1:12–2:11)”, in Journal of a Mad Man: The Wisdom of Ecclesiastes, Eugene, Or.: Resource…. From the entry question mark
He was an existential type dude with no belongings to speak of.2007 November 26, Paul Ferrara, Flash of Eden, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 120. From the entry existential type
Then we relativize the existential quantifiers according to the following well known scheme.2000, Lev D. Beklemishev, Provability, Computability and Reflection, page 43. From the entry constructivize
The existential meaning of circumspective deliberation, Heidegger argues in Being and Time is making-present (Gegenwärtigung).1999, William McNeill, The Glance of the Eye, page 78. From the entry circumspective
Kafka's illnesses are more existential than physical; they are like Kierkegaard's "sickness unto death."1990 April 1, Anatole Broyard, “Good Books about Being Sick”, in New York Times, retrieved 19 Jul 2015. From the entry sickness unto death
The existential crisis is, however, a crisis of our existence, our whole being.1963, “The Existential Crisis In Intensive Psychotherapy”, in Psychotherapy. From the entry existential crisis
GPT-4 didn’t give me an existential crisis.2023 March 15, Kevin Roose, “GPT-4 Is Exciting and Scary”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 31 Mar 2023. From the entry vertiginous
Recognising the existential threat facing these communities, in November close neighbour Australia offered climate refugee visas to Pacific Islanders.2023 December 8, “COP28: Tuvalu negotiator travelled 8,000 miles to save her home”, in BBC News. From the entry climate refugee
The current state of the tech industry is ripe with danger and poses an existential threat, he believes.2022 November 27, Edward Helmore, “‘Extinction is on the table’: Jaron Lanier warns of tech’s existential threat to humanity”, in The…. From the entry ripe
"This defines the existential state of being gay."2021, Andrew Sullivan, Out on a Limb, edition 1, page 482. From the entry gay man
Let's start from the disclosing function of existential understanding.2007, Limited Intelligence & Active Machinery. From the entry forthrow
Execution, the band's second record, burns with intense weltschmerz, its existential crises cloaked in buoyant instrumental hooks and shimmery arrangements.2002 October, Maya Singer, “Rilo Kiley: The Execution of All Things: Saddle Creek”, in CMJ New Music Monthly, number 106, New York, N.Y.…. From the entry weltschmerz
Insisting on existential decision as the last word in such an ungroundable sphere is one way of understanding ethical responsibility.2000, Lawrence J. Hatab, Ethics and finitude: Heideggerian contributions to moral philosophy. From the entry ungroundable
Today spin-off groups range all the way from existential to supertranscendental meditation, various innovative centers, ashrams and retreats.1977, Marcus Bach, The Power of Rotal Living: A Holistic Approach to the Coming of the New Person for the New Age, Fawcett Crest, →ISBN…. From the entry supertranscendental
As soon as the religious leaves the existential present, where it is sheer actuosity, it immediately becomes milder.1975, Howard V. Hong, Edna H. Hong (translators), Søren Kierkegaard's Journals and Papers, volume 4, page 296. From the entry actuosity
I'm what you would call a teleological, existential atheist.1973, Woody Allen, Marshall Brickman, Sleeper, spoken by Miles Monroe (Woody Allen). From the entry teleological
Menopause is existential dread; millenopause is a viral hashtag and a video of you taking your HRT out of a pastel-coloured subscription box.2024 February 1, Kat Rosenfield, “Millennials are rebranding the menopause”, in UnHerd, archived from the original on 01 Feb 2024. From the entry millenopause
“I don’t think either President Trump or President Biden are going to solve the debt crisis in this country, which is existential.2024 April 1, Aaron Pellish, “RFK Jr. argues that Biden is a bigger threat to democracy than Trump”, in CNN, archived from the original on…. From the entry forever war
Cadence pushed herself up, dusted off her latest existential crisis, and tried to forget that Matt’s upsidedown face was the stuff of Spider-Man-kiss dreams.2022, Julie Tieu, Circling Back to You, Avon, →ISBN. From the entry Spider-Man kiss
Although some apeirophobics have benefitted from treatments like medication and cognitive behavioral therapy, others have found no way to mitigate the existential terror.2016 September 1, Bobby Azarian, “Apeirophobia: The Fear of Eternity”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 18 Oct 2017. From the entry benefit
They misformulate their own existential insights in ways that either deprive their theories of political relevance or lead to tragically mistaken political commitments.2014, Kerry H. Whiteside, Merleau-Ponty and the Foundation of Existential Politics, page 37. From the entry misformulate
Such existential mashups define a show that also includes Hilton Als, Lynda Benglis, Leif Elggren, Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven, and Amy Yao among its conceptual couturists.2013 May 3, Neil Genzlinger, Holland Cotter, “May 5 — 11: Couture as Armor, Id and Manifesto”, in The New York Times, →ISSN. From the entry couturist
And it was German procrastination that aggravated the Greek crisis and caused the contagion that turned it into an existential crisis for Europe.2011, George Soros, Project Syndicate, Germany Must Defend the Euro. From the entry contagion
There are many people writing and talking about extinction now, and about solastalgia, the psychic or existential distress caused by environmental change.2010, Albert Bates, The Biochar Solution: Carbon Farming and Climate Change, New Society Publishers, →ISBN. From the entry solastalgia

Meaning of existential

adjective Of or relating to existence.
adjective Concerning the very existence of something, especially with regard to evading extinction.
adjective Of an assertion, etc.: assuming or suggesting the existence of something.

Full definition of existential

Questions about existential in a sentence

How do you use existential in a sentence?: Existential is used as an adjective. For example: “"The monadic existential quantifier ∃, as in ∃x, may express existence of x in formal logic or mathematics".”
What is a short sentence with existential?: “an existential risk or threat”
What does existential mean?: Existential means of or relating to existence.

Adapted from Wiktionary: existential (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use existential in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/existential. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.