nothingness

noun

noth·​ing·​ness ˈnə-thiŋ-nəs How to pronounce nothingness (audio)
1
: the quality or state of being nothing: such as
b
: utter insignificance
c
: death
2
: something insignificant or valueless
3

Examples of nothingness in a Sentence

He was staring into nothingness. The sound faded into nothingness.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The star stays visible for around a week, before fading back into nothingness for the best part of the next century. Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 1 Nov. 2024 WandaVision’s Elizabeth Olsen recently opened up about her own frustrations performing inside the physical nothingness required to bring Marvel’s big-budget projects together in postproduction. Charles Pulliam-Moore, The Verge, 26 Sep. 2024 David Foster Wallace’s titular Depressed Person dwindles into existential nothingness, a speck of dust in the vacuum of her agonized solipsism. Jia Tolentino, The New Yorker, 25 Sep. 2024 There’s that funny joke that says, the discovery of the Higgs is discovering what nothingness is made out of. Janna Levin, Quanta Magazine, 29 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for nothingness 

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1631, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of nothingness was circa 1631

Dictionary Entries Near nothingness

Cite this Entry

“Nothingness.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nothingness. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on nothingness

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