Make Your Point > Archived Issues > NIHILISM
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Today's issue is about nothing!
The Latin nihil, meaning "nothing at all," gave us nifty words like nil ("nothing"), annihilate ("reduce to nothing"), and nihilify ("to treat something like it's nothing").
And, nifty phrases like ex nihilo ("out of nothing") and nihil obstat ("nothing standing in the way").
And, the word we're checking out today: nihilism ("the doctrine of nothingness").
It was Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi (1743-1819), the German philosopher, who took the Latin nihil and conjured it into nihilism. In German, first. Natürlich.
Nihilism, strictly speaking, is the belief that life has no meaning.
Which is kind of dark, and kind of garbage, right? Life is wonderful. I'm no nihilist; I'm more of a mel___ist: someone who believes that the world we live in and the lives we lead are always getting better and better.
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make your point with...
"NIHILISM"
This word has Latin roots that literally mean "the theory of nothing at all."
Nihilism is the idea or belief that nothing is real, or that nothing is meaningful.
Pronunciation:
NYE uh liz um
Part of speech:
Noun, the uncountable kind: "her nihilism," "a moment of nihilism," "they accused him of nihilism."
Other forms:
"Nihilists" are the people who believe that nothing is real or meaningful.
"Nihility" is the state or quality of nothingness or non-existence.
The adjective is "nihilistic," and the adverb is "nihilistically."
How to use it:
Use this heavy, serious word to call attention to how someone--especially an artist, a writer, a thinker, or a politician--seems to have rejected the meaning or value of all things, people, activities, morals, traditions, and social systems.
Talk about someone's nihilism, or the nihilism of (or in) someone's art, music, writing, etc.
Or, talk about people accepting nihilism, rejecting nihilism, winding up in nihilism, accusing each other of nihilism, fighting their way back from nihilism, and so on.
examples:
"There’s a nihilism to the Internet that threatens to absorb anything it encounters, including the kinds of raw videos and photos of protests that [the fictional] Lulu circulates. Things have meaning but are swallowed up online..."
— Te-Ping Chen, as quoted by David Wallace for The New Yorker, 1 April 2019
"The 80 rooms also contain antiques and local art, and the 16 suites celebrate regional authors. If you want absurdist dreams, book the Dr. Seuss room; for nihilistic nightmares, spend the night in the H.P. Lovecraft suite."
— Andrea Sachs, The Washington Post, 15 May 2019
has this page helped you understand "nihilism"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "nihilism" without saying "rejection of meaning" or "rejection of values."
try it out:
Fill in the blank: "All of us, with the exception of nihilists, are in favor of (doing something fundamentally important for the people we love or for the whole human race)."
Example: "All of us, with the exception of hedonists, nihilists and goldfish, are in favor of planning for the future." — Leonid Solovyev, Scientific American, 15 January 2019
before you review, play:
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
Our game this month is "Inspired by, but in no way associated with, the game show Chain Reaction."
In each issue, try filling in both puzzles—the easier one and the tougher one—by supplying the terms to complete the chains.
From the previous issue:
An easier puzzle:
Windfall
E_____
Size
A tougher puzzle:
Visceral
F__
C_____
Upon
Answers:
Windfall
Effect
Size
Visceral
Fat
Chance
Upon
Give these a try today:
An easier puzzle:
Insatiable
A_______
Suppressant
A tougher puzzle:
Sentient
B____
C__
Glances
review this word:
1. A near opposite of NIHILISM is
A. LOVE OF THE SELF.
B. FAITH IN PRINCIPLES.
C. HOPE FOR ONE'S PROGENY.
2. McSweeney's jokes are deliberately nihilistic: _____
A. "How does a penguin build a house? Igloos it together. Like all animals, it is an automaton, driven by blind genetic imperative, marching slowly to oblivion."
B. "Throughout the flight, I will help the airline staff by pointing out to them who I think might be a terrorist. Spoiler alert: I will let them know I think you may be a terrorist."
C. "Colleagues with post-doc work refer to mandatory training sessions as 'professional development' and endure them with the damaging enthusiasm of a traveling new-thought sideshow."
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
Today's issue is about nothing!
"NIHILISM" This word has Latin roots that literally mean "the theory of nothing at all."
"There’s a nihilism to the Internet that threatens to absorb anything it encounters, including the kinds of raw videos and photos of protests that [the fictional] Lulu circulates. Things have meaning but are swallowed up online..."
Explain the meaning of "nihilism" without saying "rejection of meaning" or "rejection of values."
Fill in the blank: "All of us, with the exception of nihilists, are in favor of (doing something fundamentally important for the people we love or for the whole human race)."
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
1. A near opposite of NIHILISM is
|