meaning of life
Why we exist
The meaning of life is the supposed purpose or significance of human existence—what we're here for, why any of this matters.
Philosophy and religion offer answers ranging from divine purpose to existential freedom to absurdist acceptance that there is none.
In casual use, the phrase often carries ironic weight, as if the answer could be simple: I asked her what the meaning of life was and she said "tacos."
State of sentient awareness
- beingExisting as something
- realityWhat actually exists
- cosmosOrderly totality of existence
- universeComplete system or domain
creation · mortality · birth · death · sentience · humanity · impermanence · finitude
State of achieved purpose
- callingStrongly felt purpose
- destinyPredetermined course of events
- vocationDedicated career path
- missionPurpose-driven task
legacy · contribution · service · self-actualization · aspiration · passion · ikigai · telos
Philosophy stressing self-created meaning
- nihilismRejection of objective meaning
- absurdismPhilosophy embracing existence's irrationality
- metaphysicsPhilosophy of existence's nature
- ontologyStudy of existence's nature
epistemology · stoicism · utilitarianism · ethics · phenomenology · dualism · monism · pantheism
Act of seeking
- journeyTravel from place to place
- seekingAttempting to find
- explorationTraveling through unknown regions
- discoveryAct of finding something
pilgrimage · odyssey · inquiry · questioning · introspection · reflection · meditation · enlightenment
Something hard to fathom
- riddlePuzzling question to solve
- conundrumPerplexing problem or question
- puzzleChallenge testing ingenuity
- paradoxSeemingly absurd truth
uncertainty · unknowable · ineffable · inscrutable · perplexity · contemplation · wonder · awe
consciousness
State of sentient awareness
universe · creation · mortality · birth · death · sentience · humanity · impermanence · finitude · temporality
fulfillment
State of achieved purpose
mission · legacy · contribution · service · self-actualization · aspiration · passion · ikigai · telos · raison d'être
existentialism
Philosophy stressing self-created meaning
- nihilismRejection of objective meaning
- absurdismPhilosophy embracing existence's irrationality
- metaphysicsPhilosophy of existence's nature
ontology · epistemology · stoicism · utilitarianism · ethics · phenomenology · dualism · monism · pantheism · idealism
search
Act of seeking
- journeyTravel from place to place
- seekingAttempting to find
- explorationTraveling through unknown regions
discovery · pilgrimage · odyssey · inquiry · questioning · introspection · reflection · meditation · enlightenment · awakening
enigma
Something hard to fathom
- riddlePuzzling question to solve
- conundrumPerplexing problem or question
- puzzleChallenge testing ingenuity
paradox · uncertainty · unknowable · ineffable · inscrutable · perplexity · contemplation · wonder · awe · transcendence
- "life" phrasesnightlife, wildlife, lowlife, highlife
- big questionsexistence of God, free will, afterlife, good versus evil
- metaphysicsessence, being, reality, existence, substance theory
- philosophical questionsfree will, why are we here, nature of reality, morality, ethics
- Deep themesexistential crisis, moral dilemma, free will, fate, absurdism
- existentialismexistence, authenticity, existential angst, existential crisis, angst
meaning of lifemeaninglessness
Lack of significance
purposelessness · pointlessness · nihilism · absurdity · existential void
meaning of lifegoing through the motions
Performing without genuine effort
mere existence · rat race · drudgery · distraction · materialism
life, meaning, lifeless, lifetime, meaningful, lifelong, meaningless, lifelike, meanings