EXISTENTIALISM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does existentialism mean? 

• EXISTENTIALISM (noun)
  The noun EXISTENTIALISM has 1 sense:

1. (philosophy) a 20th-century philosophical movement chiefly in Europe; assumes that people are entirely free and thus responsible for what they make of themselves

  Familiarity information: EXISTENTIALISM used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EXISTENTIALISM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(philosophy) a 20th-century philosophical movement chiefly in Europe; assumes that people are entirely free and thus responsible for what they make of themselves

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

existential philosophy; existentialism; existentialist philosophy

Hypernyms ("existentialism" is a kind of...):

philosophical doctrine; philosophical theory (a doctrine accepted by adherents to a philosophy)

Domain category:

philosophy (the rational investigation of questions about existence and knowledge and ethics)

Domain member category:

depersonalisation; depersonalization ((existentialism) a loss of personal identity; a feeling of being an anonymous cog in an impersonal social machine)

Derivation:

existentialist (a philosopher who emphasizes freedom of choice and personal responsibility but who regards human existence in a hostile universe as unexplainable)