# nothingness

/ˈnəθɪŋnəs/ (US) · /nˈʌθɪŋnəs/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/nothingness
Updated: 2026-08-08

## Senses

### 1. nonexistence

noun · CEFR C1 · Academic

the state of not existing or being nothing.

For teachers: the state of nonexistence; the condition of being nothing or having no being.

- Some people fear that death is simply a return to nothingness.
- The philosopher argued that the concept of nothingness is essential to understanding the nature of being itself.

### 2. a void or emptiness

noun · CEFR C1 · Literary

a large space that contains nothing; a total void.

For teachers: a physical or metaphorical void; a state of absolute emptiness.

- He stared out into the black nothingness of the desert night.
- The astronaut gazed into the vast nothingness of deep space, feeling small against the infinite dark.

### 3. lack of importance

noun · CEFR C2 · Literary · Formal

the quality of having no importance or meaning.

For teachers: the quality of inconsequentiality or a total lack of significance.

- She felt a sense of nothingness when she realized her hard work was ignored.
- The critic dismissed the novel, claiming its themes were reduced to mere nothingness by the author's shallow prose.

## Examples

- The silence of the room felt like a deep sense of nothingness.
- The philosopher spent his life trying to understand the nature of nothingness and how it relates to the origin of the cosmos.
- In many Eastern traditions, the concept of nothingness is not a state of despair but rather a profound emptiness that allows for the manifestation of all possible forms and ideas.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.