Definition of "existentialism" in English

noun

1. (philosophy, uncountable) A twentieth-century philosophical movement emphasizing the uniqueness of each human existence in freely making its self-defining choices.

   • The heyday of existentialism occurred in the mid-twentieth century.

2. (philosophy, countable) The philosophical views of a particular thinker associated with the existentialist movement.

   • Sartre's existentialism is atheistic, but the existentialism of Marcel is distinctly Christian.