nihilistic

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ni·hil·ism

(nī′ə-lĭz′əm, nē′-)

1. Philosophy The doctrine that nothing actually exists or that existence or values are meaningless.

2. Relentless negativity or cynicism suggesting an absence of values or beliefs: nihilism in postwar art.

a. Political belief or action that advocates or commits violence or terrorism without discernible constructive goals.

b. also Nihilism A diffuse, revolutionary movement of mid-19th-century Russia that scorned authority and tradition and believed in reason, materialism, and radical change in society and government through terrorism and assassination.

4. Psychiatry A delusion, experienced in some mental disorders, that the world or one's mind, body, or self does not exist.

[Latin nihil, nothing; see ne in Indo-European roots + -ism.]

ni′hil·ist n.

ni′hil·is′tic adj.

ni′hil·is′ti·cal·ly adv.

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Adj.

nihilistic - of or relating to nihilism

Translations

nihilistic

[ˌnaɪɪˈlɪstɪk] ADJ → nihilista

nihilistic

[ˌnaɪɪˈlɪstɪk] adj [person, tendencies] → nihiliste

nihilistic

adj → nihilistisch

nihilistic

[ˌnaɪɪlˈɪstɪk] adj → nichilista

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

Kislorodoff told me all this with a sort of exaggerated devil- may-care negligence, and as though he did me great honour by talking to me so, because it showed that he considered me the same sort of exalted Nihilistic being as himself, to whom death was a matter of no consequence whatever, either way.

View in context

If many Americans devour nihilistic entertainment, then, it is because they are seeking a reflection of the views they already hold.

More Than Zero

Otaku culture may be nihilistic, escapist, and regressive, but it can also be as allusive, inventive, reflexive, and sophisticated as anything high art--or, for that matter, Hollywood--can come up with these days.

Superflat: Kitty Hauser on fan fare

Few modern games have the bottle to provide such adrenaline-soaked gameplay, let alone set it in such a nihilistic vision of the future.

Kelly's i Game ZONE: KINGPIN (PC, out now, pounds 4.99)

Coarse, vulgar, nihilistic, grating, unlovely in every sense--those are the qualities that Bayles hears in today's pop music.

Hole in Our Soul: the Loss of Beauty and Meaning in American Popular Music

He contends that by focusing on micro-topics we have turned away from the great socialist project of collective, and have instead aligned ourselves with the nihilistic goals of a capitalism we pretend to oppose.

Shabby clique

What we really need is political leadership to drag young working-class Catholics and Protestants away from a resort to nihilistic street violence.