How to Use nihilism in a Sentence

nihilism

noun
Definition of nihilismnext
  • This would all be fine if the GOP’s deficit nihilism knew no bounds.
    — Eric Levitz, Daily Intelligencer, 15 Feb. 2018
  • Faced with all the freedom in the world and no one to share it with, Ed chooses nihilism.
    — TIME, 5 Oct. 2023
  • So do all of us still here on this side of the line dividing greed and nihilism.
    — Mike Finger, San Antonio Express-News, 23 July 2022
  • The Glazers are the poster children of the corporate nihilism of the Premier League.
    — Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 3 May 2021
  • Their nihilism is embodied by Riff (the rangy Mike Faist), the kind of brawler who would rather fight than win.
    — New York Times, 8 Dec. 2021
  • There are parts of New York where nihilism is a form of currency.
    — Marlowe Granados, Harper's BAZAAR, 8 Dec. 2022
  • Roman’s nihilism is on full display when Kendall strides in to goad him back to work.
    — Erica Gonzales, ELLE, 30 May 2023
  • But what might at times seem on the page a sort of tidy nihilism has a richness and texture onstage.
    — Daniel D'addario, Variety, 21 Oct. 2022
  • But even writing out that short summary begins to unveil the pain, even the nihilism, at the heart of the work.
    — The New York Times, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2018
  • The symbol of Joy’s nihilism is an everything bagel, shaped like a zero, or like the iris of an eye.
    — Stephanie Burt, The New Yorker, 31 Oct. 2022
  • She’s a practicing Catholic, but with some nihilism thrown in.
    — Brock Colyar, Vulture, 24 Nov. 2021
  • Every line of Back curls like that: jaunty and ornate, nihilism served with a smile.
    — Darren Franich, EW.com, 19 Mar. 2021
  • But this just shows the nihilism at the heart of the GOP, the only mainstream party in the Western world that questions the science of climate change.
    — Alex Shephard, New Republic, 2 June 2017
  • The boy shooters filled with nihilism and despair, with hate, with little regard for the lives of others.
    — John Kass, chicagotribune.com, 18 May 2018
  • For awhile, the play indulges the catharsis of nihilism in the face of political defeat.
    — Christian Holub, EW.com, 28 Feb. 2023
  • In the show, Mr. Ed had a puckish sense of humor but abstained from alcohol and no longer had a streak of nihilism.
    — Rachel Syme, The New Yorker, 5 Feb. 2020
  • But nihilism is a failure of imagination, the bleak, easy way out.
    — New York Times, 3 Jan. 2022
  • Now, this is 1977, and Bob was living in London and had been reading the tabloid press, who had kind of picked up on all the negative, nihilism part.
    — Jeff Slate, Esquire, 6 Feb. 2018
  • The nihilism of the punk scene and the pressures of fame were too much for the gifted, groundbreaking frontwoman, the first person of color to front a punk band.
    — Evelyn McDonnell, Los Angeles Times, 1 Feb. 2022
  • Same goes for the mood of post-political nihilism held by some young people.
    — Nathan Taylor Pemberton, The New Yorker, 17 Mar. 2021
  • Our hero, wilting under the caustic nihilism of the video age, finds that strange things start happening not to his mind, but his body.
    — Sam Kriss, The Atlantic, 13 Oct. 2017
  • Thunberg has seen climate nihilism up close; the problem is too enormous to tackle, the adults tell her.
    — Mattie Kahn, Glamour, 22 Oct. 2019
  • The evil that must be fought here is nihilism, represented by the Echthroi, a word for enemy that comes from Greek versions of the Bible.
    — Ruth Franklin, The New York Review of Books, 25 Feb. 2020
  • Now, his nihilism is wreaking havoc on our economy and around the world.
    — E.j. Dionne Jr., The Mercury News, 15 Aug. 2019
  • One thing was absolutely clear — and a surprise, in a way — that there isn’t a nihilism [with le Carré].
    — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 19 Oct. 2023
  • The holidays can bring up lots of emotions — from joy, to anxiety, to straight-up nihilism!
    — Mallory Schlossberg, Redbook, 5 Dec. 2017
  • Or will progressives win the aftermath with charges of Trump nihilism?
    — Victor Davis Hanson, National Review, 23 Jan. 2018
  • But there is also just an overwhelming sense of nihilism.
    — Elle Reeve, CNN, 20 May 2022
  • There is a deep nihilism involved in a post-truth philosophy.
    — Moisés Naím, Foreign Affairs, 22 Feb. 2022
  • Like many people with substance use disorders, Maya had absorbed the nihilism transmitted to her by health care providers and the programs that had failed her.
    — Sarah E. Wakeman, STAT, 19 July 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nihilism.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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