Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun One who believes in nothing; one who advocates the metaphysical doctrine of nihilism.
- noun One who rejects all the positive beliefs upon which existing society and governments are founded; one who demands the abolition of the existing social and political order of things.
- noun Specifically An adherent of nihilism; a member of a Russian secret society which aims at the overthrow of the existing order of things, social, political, and religious; a Russian anarchist or revolutionary reformer. See
nihilism , 4.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun One who advocates the doctrine of nihilism; one who believes or teaches that nothing can be known, or asserted to exist.
- noun (Politics) A member of a secret association (esp. in Russia), which is devoted to the destruction of the present political, religious, and social institutions.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun philosophy, religion A person who accepts or champions
nihilism . - noun An absolute
skeptic ; a person who believes in thetruth of nothing.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun someone who rejects all theories of morality or religious belief
- noun an advocate of anarchism
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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You do know that being identified as a nihilist is a not a compliment, don’t ya, Abb? abb1 Says:
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Perhaps the word is misused, and he is better described as a nihilist, or an annihilist.
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It doesn't mean you can walk the street naked—what I would call nihilist nudity.
All for the Sake of Art Ralph Gardner Jr. 2011
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The Real World for the nihilist is the one where life lashes out at all of us, every damned single day -- where hope is a deluded pipedream, and (bleep) happens.
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Or the idea of nihilist terrorists getting a nuke from a failed state like N Korea or Pakistan.
Russ Feingold's proposed constitutional amendment. Ann Althouse 2009
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A nihilist is a man who does not bow down before any authority, who does not take any principle on faith, whatever reverence that principle may be enshrined in.
Chapter V 1917
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Perhaps the word is misused, and he is better described as a nihilist, or an annihilist.
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Perhaps the word is misused, and he his better described as a nihilist, or an annihilist.
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Perhaps the word is misused, and he is better described as a nihilist, or an annihilist.
The Strength of the Strong Jack London 1896
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They do not want to become what they fight, namely a nihilist who asserts his will rather than good men who obey a notion of justice outside of their own desires.
spicolli commented on the word nihilist
Nihilists! F**k me. I mean, say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it's an ethos.
- Walter Sobchack, in the Big Liebowski
April 17, 2007