nihilism

American  

[nahy-uh-liz-uhm, nee-] / ˈnaɪ əˌlɪz əm, ˈni- /

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.

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nihilism ¹ British  

/ 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

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Nihilism ² British  

/ ˈnaɪɪˌlɪzəm /

noun

1. (in tsarist Russia) any of several revolutionary doctrines that upheld terrorism

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nihilism Cultural  

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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Other Word Forms

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

Etymology

Origin of nihilism

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

Example Sentences

There is a tendency among even the most committed adherents to the rule of law to respond with “Nothing is gonna change” nihilism to even big legal wins.

From Slate • Mar. 4, 2026

So can we declare Gen Z financial nihilism a myth, at least among young men?

From MarketWatch • Jan. 15, 2026

I want my students and children’s friends to be healthy, but I also understand the gesture, the fashionable nihilism, the hedonism, the why not.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 8, 2026

Perhaps this nihilism will prove too trenchant and reactive for some viewers.

From Salon • Oct. 31, 2025

In an ecological version of therapeutic nihilism, they want to leave the river basin to its own devices.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Related Words

• anarchy
• atheism
• lawlessness