nihilism
nahy uh li zuhm
- n a revolutionary doctrine that advocates destruction of the social system for its own sake
- n the delusion that things (or everything, including the self) do not exist; a sense that everything is unreal
- n complete denial of all established authority and institutions
- The youth get attracted to nihilism as moths get attracted to fire and the consequence of either's attraction is only destruction.
- The pattern of what Alberto Moravia aptly calls Hemingway's "ingenuous nihilism" was early set, but even Hemingway could not sustain himself on nada, or on bread alone.
- Most Americans find it difficult to grasp that some of the brightest and best-cared-for young are so enraged that they have opted for the nihilism of blowing up society.