Meaning & use

nihilistic

adjective·Advanced

Last updated

Rejecting all religious and moral principles, often in the belief that life is meaningless.

See it in a sentence

The film's nihilistic tone suggests that none of the characters' choices really matter.

After the loss, he went through a nihilistic phase where nothing seemed worth caring about.

A note on using this word

Nihilistic is often used loosely in everyday speech to describe extreme pessimism, though its philosophical meaning is more specific: the denial of any inherent meaning or values.

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