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

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

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.”

Other Word Forms

• nihilist noun
• nihilistic adjective
• antinihilism noun
• antinihilist noun
• nonnihilism noun
• nonnihilist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of nihilism¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of nihilism¹

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

Example Sentences

Even more concerning, when the nihilism of the darkest corners of the internet catches up to their psyches, “young people weaponize those grievances,” Newsom said — whether that anger turns inward or outward.

From Los Angeles Times

They rewrite their fundamental nihilism into the belief that their business is good for mankind, whatever the actual human cost.

From Los Angeles Times

"A couple of billion years from now, the sun will expand, engulf the earth and maybe we'll be long gone – but there's a beautiful, optimistic nihilism in that," they explain.

From BBC

But as Kwan shows, such visions of the future are the refractions of nihilism and the American belief that individual survival and success is due solely to individual effort.

From Los Angeles Times

Where will we be after four years of this destructive revolution of nihilism?

From Salon

Related Words

• anarchy 
• atheism 
• lawlessness