Antonyms for nihilism


Grammar : Noun
Spell : nahy-uh-liz-uh m, nee-
Phonetic Transcription : ˈnaɪ əˌlɪz əm, ˈni-


Definition of nihilism

Origin :
  • 1817, "the doctrine of negation" (in reference to religion or morals), from German Nihilismus, from Latin nihil "nothing at all" (see nil), coined by German philosopher Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi (1743-1819). In philosophy, an extreme form of skepticism (1836). The political sense was first used by German journalist Joseph von Görres (1776-1848). Turgenev used the Russian form of the word (nigilizm) in "Fathers and Children" (1862) and claimed to have invented it. With a capital N-, it refers to the Russian revolutionary anarchism of the period 1860-1917, supposedly so called because "nothing" that then existed found favor in their eyes.
  • noun refusal to believe
Example sentences :
  • And once we are driven right on to nihilism we may find a way through.
  • Extract from : « Fantasia of the Unconscious » by D. H. Lawrence
  • Nihilism was not to be rooted out by the removal of any particular set of men.
  • Extract from : « Rabbi and Priest » by Milton Goldsmith
  • A period of reaction has set in: Despotism and Nihilism meet face to face.
  • Extract from : « Rabbi and Priest » by Milton Goldsmith
  • All (p. 249) these years Alexander had battled with nihilism and revolution.
  • Extract from : « The Story of Russia » by R. Van Bergen, M.A.
  • Nihilism is well named, for it means nothing and it ends in nothing.
  • Extract from : « Princess Zara » by Ross Beeckman
  • Do you imagine that Christianity, if it be your enemy, is an enemy as terrible as Nihilism?
  • Extract from : « France and the Republic » by William Henry Hurlbert
  • The very words breathe of Nihilism, dynamite, stratagems, and spoils.
  • Extract from : « The Mark Of Cain » by Andrew Lang
  • That element came into the world with the advent of Bakounine and Russian nihilism.
  • Extract from : « Egoists » by James Huneker
  • The mujik sublimated by Russian literature is the god of nihilism.
  • Extract from : « Russia: Its People and Its Literature » by Emilia Pardo Bazán
  • But it is time to mention some of the precursors of nihilism.
  • Extract from : « Russia: Its People and Its Literature » by Emilia Pardo Bazán

Synonyms for nihilism

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019