nihilism

Noun

nihilism (countable and uncountable, plural nihilisms)

1. (uncountable, usually) The view that all endeavours are devoid of objective meaning.
   • This classification should have led to the discovery and study of remedies which act specifically upon the various textures and tissues of the body, such as the cellular, serous, mucous, parenchymatous, fibrous, gelatinous, &c., but it did not, except in the most imperfect manner—so imperfect, in...1863, John C. Peters, F[rederick] G. Snelling, “Section I. Of Medicine as a Science and as an Art; Its Objects and Its Extent.”, in Principles and Practice of Medicine, New York, N.Y.: William Radde...
   • But there was also about him an indescribable air which no mechanic could have acquired in the practice of his handicraft however dishonestly exercised: [...] the air of moral nihilism common to keepers of gambling hells and disorderly houses; [...]1906 January–October, Joseph Conrad, chapter II, in The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (Collection of British Authors; 3995), copyright edition, London: Bernhard Tauchnitz, published 1907, →OCLC, page 15

   Synonyms:

   existential nihilism

2. (uncountable, usually) The rejection of, or opposition to, religious beliefs, (inherent or objective) moral principles, legal rules, etc., often due to the view that life is meaningless (sense 1).
   • [T]he dire portent of Nihilism, which some persons regard as little more than an extreme protest against absolutism in Government, [...] is an execrable conspiracy against all religion and morality.1882 September, W. Henry Thompson, “Texts for the Times: The Relation between Holiness and Worship”, in Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine, volume VI (Sixth Series), London: Wesleyan-Methodist Book-Room...
   • Seen through all these glasses Russia is judged, or rather misjudged, by the western world; no wonder, therefore, that it is believed to be a barbarous country, governed by tyrants, inhabited by a savage population; a mixture of indolence, ignorance, despotism, and nihilism, without one of the...1891 May, Emil Blum, “Russia of To-day”, in B[enjamin] O[range] Flower, editor, The Arena, volume III, number XVIII, Boston, Mass.: The Arena Publishing Co., →OCLC, page 659

   Synonyms:

   moral nihilism

3. (uncountable, usually) The rejection of non-proven or non-rationalized assertions in the social and political spheres of society.
   • As with the original American historicists, they accept only historical references and deny all extrahistorical references, including those implicit in idealism and positivism. [...] They deny both authoritarian and subjectivistic nihilisms, and they affirm the responsibility of the subject.1988, William Dean, “Preface”, in History Making History: The New Historicism in American Religious Thought (SUNY Series in Philosophy), Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, →ISBN, page...
4. (uncountable) A delusion that oneself or the world, or parts thereof, have ceased to exist.
   • Individuals with schizophrenia often cycle between nihilistic and solipsistic moods—when in the grip of nihilism they appear to have lost experiential contact with their very existence, [...]2009, Tim Bayne, “solipsism”, in Tim Bayne, Axel Cleeremans, Patrick Wilken, editors, The Oxford Companion to Consciousness, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 608, column 2
   • Melancholia is the most typical and classical presentation of depression with several compelling features such as impoverishment of emotional life and delusions of nihilism or guilt.2009, Arjan W. Braam, “Religion/Spirituality and Mood Disorders”, in Philippe Huguelet, Harold G. Koenig, editors, Religion and Spirituality in Psychiatry, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge...
5. A doctrine grounded on the negation of one or more meaningful aspects of life; in particular, the view that nothing in the world actually exists.
   • This great metaphysician [John Locke] considered, our ideas were derived from sensation and reflection; and preserved the distinction between these two sources of knowledge with great care; but by a perversion of his theory, his followers reduced them to sensation alone;—which by a necessary...1839, William Ingalls, A Lecture on the Subject of Phrenology not Opposed to the Principles of Religion; nor the Precepts of Christianity, Boston, Mass.: Dutton and Wentworth, […], →OCLC, pages 42–43
   • This view may be styled Religious Nihilism. It affirms that Theism, or faith in an Almighty and All-wise Creator, Pantheism, and Atheism, are alike mere guesses in the dark, and that nothing is or can be known of that mysterious Something, which is the origin of the universe.1872, T[homas] R[awson] Birks, “On Religious Nihilism”, in The Scripture Doctrine of Creation, with Reference to Religious Nihilism and Modern Theories of Development, London: The Christian Evidence...

   Antonyms:

   antinihilism

6. (countable) Something that is regarded as meaningless.
   • This mock reasoning proves that those deliberately making use of it are, during the process, insane; inasmuch as they are attempting to reason by means of suppositions, by means of nihilisms, negative quantities.1842 April, R. F. Brancassine [pseudonym; Hughes R. P. Fraser Halle], Critical Letters on Scribbleomania. … Letter 1st, London: Houlston and Stoneman, →OCLC, page 8
   • At one fell swoop such persons would away with the idle songs of the poets, away with our heroes in fiction, away too with the examples left us in the lives of great men. For it substantially amounts to this; if they have no influence in moulding thought and directing action, they are in the...1868 April, Charles Henry Merrill, “The Practical Influence of the Ideal. […]”, in George A. Blanchard, Franklin P. Wood, John K. Lord, editors, The Dartmouth, volume II, number IV, Hanover, N.H....

Proper noun capitalized: Nihilism

UK/ˈnaɪ.(h)ɪ.lɪ.z(ə)m/US/ˈnaɪ.əˌlɪ.z(ə)m/

Nihilism

1. (Russia, historical) A movement of the 1860s that rejected all authority and promoted the use of violence for political change.
   • The Government took up the word, and used nihilism to stigmatize all revolutionary, and ultra democratic and socialistic tendencies; and we have seen it play its part in the recent investigations into the attempted assassination of the Emperor.1867, Eugene Schuyler, “Preface”, in Ivan Sergheïevitch Turgenef [i.e., Ivan Turgenev], translated by Eugene Schuyler, Fathers and Sons […], New York, N.Y.: Leypoldt and Holt, →OCLC, page vii