nihilism
[ nahy-uh-liz-uhm, nee- ]
/ ˈnaɪ əˌlɪz əm, ˈni- /
Save This Word!
noun
total rejection of established laws and institutions.
anarchy, terrorism, or other revolutionary activity.
total and absolute destructiveness, especially toward the world at large and including oneself: the power-mad nihilism that marked Hitler's last years.
Philosophy.
- an extreme form of skepticism: the denial of all real existence or the possibility of an objective basis for truth.
- nothingness or nonexistence.
(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.
annihilation of the self, or the individual consciousness, especially as an aspect of mystical experience.
QUIZ
ALL IN FAVO(U)R OF THIS BRITISH VS. AMERICAN ENGLISH QUIZ
There's an ocean of difference between the way people speak English in the US vs. the UK. Are your language skills up to the task of telling the difference? Let's find out!
Question 1 of 7
True or false? British English and American English are only different when it comes to slang words.
OTHER WORDS FROM nihilism
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use nihilism in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for nihilism (1 of 2)
nihilism
/ (ˈnaɪɪˌlɪzəm) /
noun
a complete denial of all established authority and institutions
philosophy an extreme form of scepticism that systematically rejects all values, belief in existence, the possibility of communication, etc
a revolutionary doctrine of destruction for its own sake
the practice or promulgation of terrorism
Derived forms of nihilism
nihilist, noun, adjectivenihilistic, adjectiveWord Origin for nihilism
C19: from Latin nihil nothing + -ism, on the model of German Nihilismus
British Dictionary definitions for nihilism (2 of 2)
Nihilism
/ (ˈnaɪɪˌlɪzəm) /
noun
(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
Cultural definitions for nihilism
nihilism
[ (neye-uh-liz-uhm, nee-uh-liz-uhm) ]
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.”
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.