nihilism

From German Nihilismus, itself from Latin nihil (“nil, nothing”) + German -ismus (“-ism”), coined in 1817 by German philosopher Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi, but repeatedly 'reinvented'.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈnaɪ(h)ɨ̞lɪz(ə)m/, /ˈnɪhɨ̞lɪz(ə)m/, /ˈniː(h)ɨ̞lɪz(ə)m/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈnaɪəˌlɪz(ə)m/, /ˈni.əˌlɪz(ə)m/

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nihilism (countable and uncountable, plural nihilisms)

1. (philosophy) A philosophical doctrine grounded on the negation of one or more meaningful aspects of life.
2. (ethics) The rejection of inherent or objective moral principles.
3. (politics) The rejection of non-rationalized or non-proven assertions in the social and political spheres of society.
4. (politics, historical) A Russian movement of the 1860s that rejected all authority and promoted the use of violence for political change.
5. The understanding that all endeavors are devoid of objective meaning.
   • "...the band members sweat hard enough to earn their pretensions, and maybe even their nihilism" (rock critic Dave Marsh, reviewing the band XTC's album Go)

   Synonym: fatalism

6. The refusal of belief, that belief itself is untenable.

• nihilist
• nihilistic

• annihilate
• nihility
• nil

• nihilism in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• nihilism in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.