noun, noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no'
Formal or technical term for the state of something not existing or being absent. Often used in philosophical, legal, or academic contexts.
証拠の不存在が被告の無罪を証明した。
The absence of evidence proved the defendant's innocence.
この議論は神の不存在を前提としている。
This argument presupposes the non-existence of God.
欠如 emphasizes a deficiency or lack of something that should be present, whereas 不存在 simply states that something does not exist.
Compound of 不 (fu, 'not') and 存在 (sonzai, 'existence'). The word is a direct borrowing from Chinese 不存在 (bù cúnzài), used in formal and academic Japanese.