Existentialist Terminology

noun a Latin phrase meaning 'seize the day'

• In times of uncertainty, it is important to remember the Latin phrase 'carpe diem' which means seize the day.
• Hey, let's make the most of today and live by the motto 'carpe diem'!
• Yolo, let's carpe diem and have some fun!
• Just like a bird seizing its prey, we should seize the opportunities that come our way - carpe diem!

adjective describing a state of lacking or containing nothing

preposition showing the relationship between 'empty' and what it lacks or is devoid of

• The room was completely empty of any furniture.
• The fridge is empty of food, we need to go grocery shopping.
• His promises were empty of any real intention.
• Her heart felt empty of love after the breakup.

adjective not capable of being suppressed or restrained

• The insuppressible growth of the economy is evident in the latest report.
• His insuppressible laughter filled the room with joy.
• Her insuppressible energy is contagious.
• The insuppressible desire for freedom burned within her heart.

noun a state of lacking joy or happiness

• The pervasive joylessness of the office environment was palpable to all who entered.
• There's a sense of joylessness hanging over the party, nobody seems to be having a good time.
• The joylessness of the situation was a real buzzkill.
• Her heart felt heavy with the weight of joylessness that seemed to surround her.

adjective having no meaning or significance

• The experiment yielded meaningless results due to errors in the data collection process.
• I can't believe we wasted our time on that meaningless project.
• That movie was so meaningless, I couldn't even follow the plot.
• His words felt like a meaningless jumble of sounds, lacking any real significance.

adjective relating to or characteristic of nihilism, the rejection of all religious and moral principles, often in the belief that life is meaningless.

• The protagonist's nihilistic beliefs led to his indifference towards societal norms.
• She has a nihilistic attitude that nothing really matters in the grand scheme of things.
• Some people think being nihilistic is just being a buzzkill.
• His nihilistic outlook on life painted everything in shades of gray.

pronoun A pronoun is a word that can function by itself as a noun phrase and that refers either to the participants in the discourse or to someone or something mentioned elsewhere in the discourse.

• Nobody was able to solve the complex mathematical equation.
• Nobody wants to go to that party.
• Nobody can touch him in a game of basketball.
• In a sea of people, she felt like nobody.

noun the quality or state of lacking any purpose or meaning

• The philosopher argued that the concept of pointlessness is a fundamental aspect of existentialism.
• I don't see the point in doing this task, it just feels like pointlessness to me.
• This whole situation is just a big ol' mess of pointlessness, if you ask me.
• The artist's abstract painting captured the feeling of pointlessness in a chaotic world.

adjective relating to or characteristic of the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre or his philosophical ideas

• The philosopher's ideas are often compared to Sartrian existentialism.
• I never really understood that Sartrian stuff in philosophy class.
• That Sartrian philosophy is way too deep for me to grasp.
• Her outlook on life has become more Sartrian since studying existentialism.

noun a tendency to focus on or dwell on the negative aspects of life; a pessimistic or gloomy outlook

• The author's use of miserabilism in his writing reflects the harsh realities of life.
• I can't stand watching that movie, it's full of miserabilism.
• The show was a total downer, just pure miserabilism from start to finish.
• His paintings are often criticized for their miserabilism, but he believes they capture the essence of human suffering.

adjective relating to acosmism, the belief that the universe is devoid of real existence

• The philosopher's acosmistic beliefs led him to reject the idea of a structured universe.
• She's always been a bit acosmistic, questioning the existence of any higher power.
• Some people think being acosmistic is cool, like being a rebel against the universe.
• His acosmistic view of the world made him feel like a lone star in a vast galaxy.