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existence

noun

Simple meaning

Empirical reality; the substance of the physical universe.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ehgzistuhns

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ɛɡˈzɪstəns

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. Ontology

    The state or fact of existing

  2. Ontology

    The state of being, existing, or occurring; beinghood.

  3. Empirical reality; the substance of the physical universe. (Dictionary of Philosophy; 1968)

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A2 · Elementary (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
General English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: The state or fact of existing

Used this way, existence is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

human existencecontinued existencereal existenceindependent existence

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • existingadjectiveRelated term

    Having existence or being or actuality.

  • existverbRelated term

    Have an existence, be extant.

  • existentadjectiveRelated term

    Having existence or being or actuality.

  • existential quantifiernounRelated term

    A logical quantifier of a proposition that asserts the existence of at least one thing for which the proposition is true.

  • existential operatornounRelated term

    A logical quantifier of a proposition that asserts the existence of at least one thing for which the proposition is true.

  • existentialist philosophernounRelated term

    A philosopher who emphasizes freedom of choice and personal responsibility but who regards human existence in a hostile universe as unexplainable.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: state or fact of existing

being

Antonyms

Sense: state or fact of existing

nonexistence

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.