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
When Trump ran for reëlection, defeating him became an existential imperative for Democrats.
—
Brady Brickner-Wood, The New Yorker, 5 Feb. 2025
Since then, the department has faced other existential threats, with former President Ronald Reagan calling for its end and Trump, during his first term, attempting to merge it with the Labor Department.
—Annie Nova, CNBC, 4 Feb. 2025
Yet orange juice also is facing a grander existential problem than the economy.
—Yasmin Tayag, The Atlantic, 4 Feb. 2025
Investing in an ‘existential threat’ The Palisades and Eaton fires will likely go down as the most economically costly disaster in state history — and among the costliest in U.S. history.
—Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 31 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for existential 
Brady Brickner-Wood, The New Yorker, 5 Feb. 2025
Since then, the department has faced other existential threats, with former President Ronald Reagan calling for its end and Trump, during his first term, attempting to merge it with the Labor Department.
—Annie Nova, CNBC, 4 Feb. 2025
Yet orange juice also is facing a grander existential problem than the economy.
—Yasmin Tayag, The Atlantic, 4 Feb. 2025
Investing in an ‘existential threat’ The Palisades and Eaton fires will likely go down as the most economically costly disaster in state history — and among the costliest in U.S. history.
—Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 31 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for existential
Recent Examples of Synonyms for existential
Adjective
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Chris Hayes One way to answer this is to look at the empirical research, like Jonathan Haidt does in The Anxious Generation.—
Sean Illing,
Vox,
1 Feb. 2025
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In fact, a Harvard Business Review analysis of 145 empirical studies found that constraints consistently drive higher performance across individuals, teams, and organizations.—
Julian Hayes II,
Forbes,
28 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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The National Academies are private, nonprofit organizations created by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 to provide the nation with independent, objective advice on complex problems.—
Yaakov Katz,
Newsweek,
7 Feb. 2025
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Back in government, Trump seems bent on creating a new political reality, where objective truth no longer exists and can be replaced with pure fiction.—
Adam Price,
The Atlantic,
7 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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The show’s origins lie in its creator Greg Kotis’s rage at having to pay for public toilets in Europe after performing at a festival in Romania with his experimental troupe, the Neo-Futurists.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
7 Feb. 2025
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Kangaroo egg injected with sperm The experimental IVF process saw embryos produced by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), which as the video demonstrates, is a delicate procedure that sees a single sperm injected directly into a mature egg.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
6 Feb. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Existential.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/existential. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.
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