(きょむしゅぎ)

きょむしゅぎ
noun
nihilism
1. nihilism
The philosophical position that life, morality, or knowledge has no inherent meaning, value, or foundation. The standard Japanese translation of the European philosophical term.
(かれ)虚無主義(きょむしゅぎ)傾倒(けいとう)している。
He is drawn to nihilism.
ニーチェの思想(しそう)虚無主義(きょむしゅぎ)(ふか)関係(かんけい)がある。
Nietzsche's thought has a deep connection with nihilism.
戦後(せんご)若者(わかもの)(あいだ)には虚無主義(きょむしゅぎ)(てき)雰囲気(ふんいき)(ひろ)がっていた。
A nihilistic mood spread among young people in the postwar period.

Compound of 虚無(きょむ) (emptiness; nothingness) + 主義(しゅぎ) (-ism; doctrine). Used both in academic philosophy and as a literary descriptor of a worldview.

COMMON COLLOCATIONS:

  • 虚無主義(きょむしゅぎ)(てき): nihilistic
  • 虚無主義(きょむしゅぎ)(おちい)る: to fall into nihilism
  • 虚無主義(きょむしゅぎ)()える: to overcome nihilism

SIMILAR WORDS:

  • ニヒリズム: nihilism — loanword; common in critical and pop-culture writing
  • 厭世主義(えんせいしゅぎ): pessimism — about world-weariness, not absence of meaning
  • 懐疑主義(かいぎしゅぎ): skepticism — doubts knowledge, not value