nothingness

[nuhth-ing-nis]

See more synonyms for nothingness on Thesaurus.com

noun

the state of being nothing.
something that is nonexistent: a view of humanity as suspended between infinity and nothingness.
lack of being; nonexistence: The sound faded into nothingness.

unconsciousness or death: She remembered a dizzy feeling, then nothingness.
utter insignificance, emptiness, or worthlessness; triviality: The days followed one another in an endless procession of nothingness.
something insignificant or without value.

Origin of nothingness

First recorded in 1625–35; nothing + -ness

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for nothingness

smallness, pettiness

Examples from the Web for nothingness

Contemporary Examples of nothingness

This book seeks to fill that void (although arguably atheist kids should get used to nothingness sooner rather than later).
Are You There, Nobody? It’s Me, Margaret
Candida Moss
October 12, 2014
I do not like this sense of God, this nothingness in which I now dwell.
How Losing My Daughter Changed My Faith
Kyle Cupp
June 15, 2014
“Attach Form(s) W-2” would be an exercise in the stapling of nothingness.
Up to a Point: I Do My Own Taxes With No Help, Except From a Couple of Bloody Marys
P. J. O’Rourke
April 15, 2014
Athletes are also carefully trained in the Zen of nothingness.
Pro Sports’ Hero Deficit
Buzz Bissinger
July 6, 2011

Historical Examples of nothingness

He will pass to the dark realm of nothingness, but will not find me there.
Monsieur du Muroir (From "Mosses From An Old Manse")
Nathaniel Hawthorne
But the new voice was stilled into nothingness by the shrill, reawakening falsetto.
Thoroughbreds
W. A. Fraser
Afterwards all these impressions blended into one nothingness.
Master and Man
Leo Tolstoy
On the other side this life is a nothingness so large that you will be as nothing in it.
The First Violin
Jessie Fothergill
What a consciousness of his own nothingness, and of his sins!
The Memoirs of Louis XIV., His Court and The Regency, Complete
Duc de Saint-Simon

British Dictionary definitions for nothingness

nothingness

noun

the state or condition of being nothing; nonexistence
absence of consciousness or life
complete insignificance or worthlessness
something that is worthless or insignificant

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

Word Origin and History for nothingness

"nonexistence," 1630s, from nothing + -ness.