nihilist.

1. A person who rejects established values or holds that objective meaning or moral value is absent.

2. A participant in nineteenth-century Russian radical currents challenging established social, religious, or political authority.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• an ethical nihilist
• an existential nihilist

On the page

The nihilist questioned the rule’s authority rather than its convenience.

She described him as a nihilist, though he still held fiercely to personal promises.

Usage notes

Primary category: psychological / character. Forms: Singular nihilist; plural nihilists. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.