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View synonyms for nirvana

nirvana

[ nir-vah-nuh, -van-uh, ner- ]

noun

  1. (often initial capital letter) Pali nibbana. Buddhism. freedom from the endless cycle of personal reincarnations, with their consequent suffering, as a result of the extinction of individual passion, hatred, and delusion: attained by the Arhat as his goal but postponed by the Bodhisattva.
  2. (often initial capital letter) Hinduism. salvation through the union of Atman with Brahma; moksha.
  3. a place or state characterized by freedom from or oblivion to pain, worry, and the external world.


nirvana

/ nɜː-; nɪəˈvɑːnə /

noun

  1. Buddhism Hinduism final release from the cycle of reincarnation attained by extinction of all desires and individual existence, culminating (in Buddhism) in absolute blessedness, or (in Hinduism) in absorption into Brahman
“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

nirvana

  1. In Buddhism , the highest state of consciousness, in which the soul is freed from all desires and attachments. Nirvana is sometimes inaccurately used as a synonym for heaven or paradise .
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Derived Forms

  • nirˈvanic, adjective
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Other Words From

  • nir·vanic adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of nirvana1

First recorded in 1830–40, nirvana is from the Sanskrit word nirvāṇa
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Word History and Origins

Origin of nirvana1

C19: from Sanskrit: extinction, literally: a blowing out, from nir- out + vāti it blows
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Example Sentences

Even a few extra inches of room would get me closer to the sartorial nirvana I was chasing.

And then another filmmaker with a completely different vision and a different voice, but that loves that flavor, does their version — that’s nirvana.

“For some movements within Buddhism, the rainbow symbolizes the highest state a human being can reach before entering final enlightenment, or nirvana,” said the visiting Rev. Elizabeth Murphy.

“This isn’t exactly the high-tech nirvana that the futurists of the 1960s were hoping for,” she said.

“I would argue that if you didn’t know anything else about everything that was going on, and somebody told you about the recent economic numbers, we’d be celebrating it as nirvana.”

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