Nirvana

//nɪɹˈvɑnə// noun, slang

noun, slang ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Complete cessation of dukkha; a blissful state attained through realization of sunyata; enlightened experience. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    any place of complete bliss and delight and peace wordnet
  3. 3
    State of paradise; heightened or great pleasure or peace; a state of universal perfectionin which everyone lives in bliss. colloquial, countable, uncountable

    "Welcome to this celebration of legal abortion. I wish January 22 meant more than that. The truth is that we are not winging our way to a state of nirvana for reproductive rights."

  4. 4
    (Hinduism and Buddhism) the beatitude that transcends the cycle of reincarnation; characterized by the extinction of desire and suffering and individual consciousness wordnet

Example

More examples

"Why is it that in every goddamn Smashing Pumpkins video I watch, some idiot compares them to Nirvana in the comments? What the fuck?"

Etymology

Borrowed from Sanskrit निर्वाण (nirvāṇa, “blown or put out, extinguished”), from निस् (nis, “out”) + वा (vā, “to blow”), the second part cognate with Russian ве́тер (véter, “wind”), weather, vent and wind.

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.