nihilist

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“
That makes you a nihilist, the political expression of which is totalitarianism.

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Definitions (6)

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  1. One who believes in nothing; one who advocates the metaphysical doctrine of nihilism. For thirty-five years of my life I was, in the proper acceptation of the word, a nihilist—not a revolutionary socialist, but a man who believed in nothing. Tolstoi, My Religion (trans.), Int.
  2. One who rejects all the positive beliefs upon which existing society and governments are founded; one who demands the abolition of the existing social and political order of things. “A nihilist,” said Nicholas Petrovitch, … “signifles a man who … recognizes nothing?” “Or rather who respects nothing,” said Paul Petrovitch. … “A man who looks at everything from a critical point of view,” said Arcadi. “Does not that come to the same thing?” asked his uncle. “No, not at all; a nihilist is a man who bows before no authority, who accepts no principle without examination, no matter what credit the principle has.” Turgenieff, Fathers and Sons (tr. by Schuyler), v.
  3. Specifically An adherent of nihilism; a member of a Russian secret society which aims at the overthrow of the existing order of things, social, political, and religious; a Russian anarchist or revolutionary reformer. See nihilism, 4. The word Nihilist was introduced in Russia by Turgenef, who used it in his novel “Fathers and Children” to describe a certain type of character … which he contrasted sharply and effectively with the prevailing types in the generation which was passing from the stage. The word … was soon caught up by the conservatives and by the Government, and was applied indiscriminately by them, as an opprobrious and discrediting nickname, to all persons who were not satisfied with the existing order of things, and who sought, by any active method whatever, to bring about changes in Russian social and political organization. The Century, XXXV. 51.

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Examples (50)

  • I'm not much of a nihilist, sadly; I can't believe the extrapolation. —  F ;SF - vol 093 issue 03 - September 1997
  • Terror is ultimately nihilist, not religious or cultural. —  Planet Irf
  • This is because the nihilist, in his / her denial of meaning and morality, may decide to practice hedonism in an attempt to achieve self-fulfillment. —  Conservapedia - Recent changes [en]
  • I was very, very drunk at the time and I went up to him and told him that I was a nihilist, and I believed that everything should be destroyed and rebuilt. —  ! Exclaim.ca - News
  • That makes you a nihilist, the political expression of which is totalitarianism. —  open Democracy News Analysis - Comments
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Etymologies (1)

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  1. = French nihiliste = Spanish nihilista = Russ, niiilistŭ as L. nihil, nothing. + -ist.
 

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