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

One could fill a library with all that has been written about Hitler as the archetype of the charismatic totalitarian leader, full of violent hatred, reflexive deceit and a taste for destruction that eventually unmasked itself as an annihilating nihilism.

From Salon

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

If you were acquainted with Cave through his nihilism in the years of The Birthday Party or with the '90s version of the Bad Seeds, or perhaps through some of his quirkier noir-esque material in movies or television — his 1994 song “Red Right Hand” was in the opening titles of "Peaky Blinders," for example — you would be forgiven for thinking that this might seem a tad outdated or perhaps just not your kind of thing.

From Salon

For Zimmer, who brings her kids to city council meetings and involves them in her activism, establishing this sense of community at a young age and showing her kids they do have the power to make change is a way to combat a growing sense of nihilism about climate change.

From Salon

Related Words

• anarchy 
• atheism 
• lawlessness