— existentialist , adj. , n. — existentialistic , adj. — existentialistically , adv.
/eg'zi sten"sheuh liz'euhm, ek'si-/ , n. Philos.
a philosophical attitude associated esp. 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.
[ 1940-45; Existentialismus (1919); see EXISTENTIAL, -ISM ]