VocabauraVOCABAURA

nihilism

noun

Simple meaning

The view that all endeavours are devoid of objective meaning.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

nyuhlihzuhm

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈnaɪəlɪzəm

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. usually uncountable

    The view that all endeavours are devoid of objective meaning.

  2. usually uncountable

    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).

  3. countableuncountablephilosophy

    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.

  4. The delusion that things (or everything, including the self) do not exist; a sense that everything is unreal

  5. countable

    Something that is regarded as meaningless.

Share your sentence

Write your own example sentence using “nihilism”. We review each one before it appears.

Use This Word

See how this word sounds in a real sentence.

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Keep learning “nihilism” by choosing the kind of practice you need next.

Want to type words like this one without looking at the keyboard? Each typing round draws from words you've learned, saved or need to review. Follow the free Learn to Type lessons and type your own vocabulary with confidence.

Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.