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View synonyms for nihilism

nihilism

[ nahy-uh-liz-uhm, nee- ]

noun

  1. total rejection of established laws and institutions.
  2. anarchy, terrorism, or other revolutionary activity.
  3. total and absolute destructiveness, especially toward the world at large and including oneself:

    the power-mad nihilism that marked Hitler's last years.

  4. Philosophy.
    1. an extreme form of skepticism: the denial of all real existence or the possibility of an objective basis for truth.
    2. nothingness or nonexistence.
  5. (sometimes initial capital letter) the principles of a Russian revolutionary group, active in the latter half of the 19th century, holding that existing social and political institutions must be destroyed in order to clear the way for a new state of society and employing extreme measures, including terrorism and assassination.
  6. annihilation of the self, or the individual consciousness, especially as an aspect of mystical experience.


Nihilism

1

/ ˈnaɪɪˌlɪzəm /

noun

  1. (in tsarist Russia) any of several revolutionary doctrines that upheld terrorism
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


nihilism

2

/ ˈnaɪɪˌlɪzəm /

noun

  1. a complete denial of all established authority and institutions
  2. philosophy an extreme form of scepticism that systematically rejects all values, belief in existence, the possibility of communication, etc
  3. a revolutionary doctrine of destruction for its own sake
  4. the practice or promulgation of terrorism
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

nihilism

  1. An approach to philosophy that holds that human life is meaningless and that all religions, laws, moral codes, and political systems are thoroughly empty and false. The term is from the Latin nihil , meaning “nothing.”


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Derived Forms

  • ˈnihilist, nounadjective
  • ˌnihilˈistic, adjective
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Other Words From

  • nihil·ist noun adjective
  • nihil·istic adjective
  • anti·nihil·ism noun
  • anti·nihil·ist noun adjective
  • non·nihil·ism noun
  • non·nihil·ist noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of nihilism1

First recorded in 1810–20; from Latin nihil “nothing” (variant of nihilum; nil ) + -ism
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Word History and Origins

Origin of nihilism1

C19: from Latin nihil nothing + -ism , on the model of German Nihilismus
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Example Sentences

Today, horror is characterized by an overall tonal shift toward chaotic nihilism, realism, loss of innocence, and stories that explore social themes.

From Vox

Yes, this sounds scary, but it doesn’t mean you should embrace full-on nihilism or stop sending nudes altogether.

Two new books—Under the Sky We Make, by Kimberly Nicholas, and Overheated, by Kate Aronoff—provide an antidote to climate nihilism.

The journalist Malcolm Gladwell, on his podcast, “Revisionist History,” devoted a recent episode to his theory of “hiring nihilism.”

From Fortune

They often seem on the brink of nihilism before we even cover the syllabus.

From Fortune

I think with that generation, so many of their hopes have been so dashed that nihilism is really a natural response.

It’s arguably the best film of the ‘90s—a postmodern pop culture smorgasbord awash in nihilism and dripping with retro cool.

Republican leaders have no alternative but to join the president in rejecting such nihilism.

To understand better the nihilism of Thiessen's thinking, I must now quote his column at greater length.

Over the past four years, Republicans have suffered from a combination of tactical radicalism joined to strategic nihilism.

Then when the authorities thought Nihilism was stamped out by wholesale severity the matter assumed another phase.

But his liberalism is not in the least akin to Nihilism or Anarchism.

With therapeutic nihilism or skepticism of the power of drugs I have no sympathy.

Koscheleff, writing in 1874, gives a similar explanation of nihilism.

This is the only view an American, the child of 1620 and 1776, can take of Nihilism.

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nihilnihilistic