[From Latin nihil: nothing, non-existence.]
(ethics) Traditionally, a rejection of common morality or religion. For example, Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) is often said to have been a nihilist because of his opposition to Christianity as well as his perspectivism. More recently, some nihilistic currents of 20th-century thought (e.g., some strains of existentialism) bordered on a kind of activist irrationalism by celebrating the meaninglessness of existence and even wanton destruction for its own sake.