ontological
adjective
on·to·log·i·cal
ˌän-tə-ˈlä-ji-kəl 
1
: of or relating to ontology
an ontological principle
2
: relating to or based upon being or existence
Virtual environments engage millions of people and billions of dollars each year. What is the ontological status of the virtual objects that populate those environments?—
David Leech Anderson
David Leech AndersonExamples of ontological in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
In the case of Nabokov and Borges, the ontological status is even less settled.
—Jonathon Keats, Forbes, 30 Dec. 2024
There is fun, and glory, but underneath these is a more inchoate drive, an ontological imperative, maybe, to play with fire.
—Rachel Kushner, Harper's Magazine, 2 Dec. 2024
Setting aside that ontological question, does this particular story really call for a dramatization?
—Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 17 Sep. 2024
But modernism already ended some time ago and with it, presumably, time itself, as it was widely rumored that space was supposed to replace time in the general ontological scheme of things.
—Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 15 Oct. 2024
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Jonathon Keats, Forbes, 30 Dec. 2024
There is fun, and glory, but underneath these is a more inchoate drive, an ontological imperative, maybe, to play with fire.
—Rachel Kushner, Harper's Magazine, 2 Dec. 2024
Setting aside that ontological question, does this particular story really call for a dramatization?
—Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 17 Sep. 2024
But modernism already ended some time ago and with it, presumably, time itself, as it was widely rumored that space was supposed to replace time in the general ontological scheme of things.
—Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 15 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for ontological
Dictionary Entries Near ontological
Cite this Entry
“Ontological.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ontological. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.
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