How to Use nihilism in a Sentence

nihilism

noun
  • His nihilism tells him there is no future.
    — Christopher Bonanos, Curbed, 25 Sep. 2025
  • The only nihilism is in the lyrics.
    — David Browne, Rolling Stone, 29 Aug. 2025
  • There is a pop-nihilism throughout.
    — David Tucker, Encyclopedia Britannica, 5 Mar. 2026
  • These roles required an adult grasp of lust and jealousy and nihilism.
    — James Marcus, New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2025
  • 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
  • At its core, slop invites a kind of nihilism into all aspects of our life.
    — Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 20 Oct. 2025
  • This would all be fine if the GOP’s deficit nihilism knew no bounds.
    — Eric Levitz, Daily Intelligencer, 15 Feb. 2018
  • 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
  • Faced with all the freedom in the world and no one to share it with, Ed chooses nihilism.
    — TIME, 5 Oct. 2023
  • Throw in a good measure of nihilism, greed, and narcissism.
    — Dp Opinion, Denver Post, 27 Feb. 2026
  • The satisfaction of nihilism is not just in his head but before our eyes.
    — Armond White, National Review, 29 Nov. 2024
  • There are parts of New York where nihilism is a form of currency.
    — Marlowe Granados, Harper's BAZAAR, 8 Dec. 2022
  • Same goes for the mood of post-political nihilism held by some young people.
    — Nathan Taylor Pemberton, The New Yorker, 17 Mar. 2021
  • Now, his nihilism is wreaking havoc on our economy and around the world.
    — E.j. Dionne Jr., The Mercury News, 15 Aug. 2019
  • But nihilism is a failure of imagination, the bleak, easy way out.
    — New York Times, 3 Jan. 2022
  • Still, The Secret Agent avoids facile nihilism.
    — Michael Snyder, The Atlantic, 13 Mar. 2026
  • There is a deep nihilism involved in a post-truth philosophy.
    — Moisés Naím, Foreign Affairs, 22 Feb. 2022
  • Julia Shapiro sings, making nihilism feel like a warm blanket.
    — Washington Post, 14 Nov. 2019
  • Its religious undertones feel so at odds with a season steeped in nihilism.
    — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 1 June 2026
  • 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 boy shooters filled with nihilism and despair, with hate, with little regard for the lives of others.
    — John Kass, chicagotribune.com, 18 May 2018
  • 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 holidays can bring up lots of emotions — from joy, to anxiety, to straight-up nihilism!
    — Mallory Schlossberg, Redbook, 5 Dec. 2017
  • 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
  • Or will progressives win the aftermath with charges of Trump nihilism?
    — Victor Davis Hanson, National Review, 23 Jan. 2018
  • This is neither nihilism nor fatalism.
    — Eugenie Brinkema, ARTnews.com, 14 June 2026
  • But Walker was not proudly espousing the virtues of nihilism.
    — Eric Levitz, Daily Intelligencer, 29 Sep. 2017
  • In my opinion, in this day and age, any attitude other than nihilism counts as a skill (but don’t put that on your resume).
    — Ginny Hogan, Forbes, 5 May 2023
  • 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

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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