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existentialism

exis·ten·tia·lism

UK/ˌɛɡzɪˈstɛnʃəlɪz(ə)m/ US/ˌɛɡzɪˈstɛnʃlɪz(ə)m/ uncommon

noun

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

Origin

From existential + -ism (suffix forming the names of schools of thought, systems, or theories), modelled after German Existentialismus.

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.