Nearby Words

existentialist

[eg-zi-sten-shuh-liz-uhm, ek-si-] Example Sentences Origin

ex·is·ten·tial·ism

[eg-zi-sten-shuh-liz-uhm, ek-si-]
noun Philosophy.
a philosophical attitude associated especially with Heidegger, Jaspers, Marcel, and Sartre, and opposed to rationalism and empiricism, that stresses the individual's unique position as a self-determining agent responsible for the authenticity of his or her choices.

Origin:
1940–45; < German Existentialismus (1919); see existential, -ism

ex·is·ten·tial·ist, adjective, noun
ex·is·ten·tial·is·tic, adjective
ex·is·ten·tial·is·ti·cal·ly, adverb
non·ex·is·ten·tial·ism, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Existentialist is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
Example Sentences
  • While studying at the university, he adopted an existentialist philosophy.
  • Hell is other people, goes the old existentialist saw.
Collins
World English Dictionary
existentialism (ˌɛɡzɪˈstɛnʃəˌlɪzəm)
 
n
a modern philosophical movement stressing the importance of personal experience and responsibility and the demands that they make on the individual, who is seen as a free agent in a deterministic and seemingly meaningless universe
 
exis'tentialist
 
adj, —n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

existentialism
1941, from Ger. Existentialismus (1919), ultimately from Dan. writer Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), who wrote (1846) of Existents-Forhold "condition of existence," existentielle Pathos, etc. (see existential), and whose name means, literally, "churchyard." Related: Existentialist.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary

existentialism definition


A movement in twentieth-century literature and philosophy, with some forerunners in earlier centuries. Existentialism stresses that people are entirely free and therefore responsible for what they make of themselves. With this responsibility comes a profound anguish or dread. Søren Kierkegaard and Feodor Dostoevsky in the nineteenth century, and Jean-Paul Sartre, Martin Heidegger, and Albert Camus in the twentieth century, were existentialist writers.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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