Meanings
plural nirvanas
- countableuncountableBuddhismComplete cessation of dukkha; a blissful state attained through realization of sunyata; enlightened experience.
Synonyms: nibbana
- colloquialcountableuncountablenon-BuddhistState of paradise; heightened or great pleasure or peace; a state of universal perfection and bliss.
Though we don’t all reach nirvana when we swim, swimming may well be that last refuge from connectivity — and, for some, the only way to find the solitary self.
2014 February 14, Bonnie Tsui, “The Self-Reflecting Pool”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 15 Aug 20212 more examples
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.
1988 February 7, Stephanie Poggi, “What's Choice Got To Do With It?”, in Gay Community News, volume 15, number 29, page 5No, Virginia, the combination of Trump’s tax cuts and tariffs don’t help and, yes, when the AI investment bubble pops GDP growth will drop making the deficit/GDP ratio worse, unless you believe the tech bros hype about AI suddenly delivering universal nirvana.
2026 January 24, Michael Pascoe, “America’s mighty economic power has feet of clay”, in Michael West Media
Synonyms & antonyms
nounComplete cessation of dukkha; a blissful state attained through realization of sunyata; enlightened experience.
More synonyms by meaning
noun(Hinduism and Buddhism) the beatitude that transcends the cycle of reincarnation; characterized by the extinction of desire and suffering and individual consciousness
nounany place of complete bliss and delight and peace
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Sanskritनिर्वाण“blown or put out, extinguished”
- Englishnirvana
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.
More words from Sanskrit
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic اَلنِّرْفَانَا, اَلنِّرْفَانَا
- اَلنِّرْفَانَا (an-nirfanā)Buddhism: cessation of suffering
- اَلنِّرْفَانَا (an-nirfanā)state of bliss
Bengali নির্বাণ, নির্বাণ
- নির্বাণ (nirban)Buddhism: cessation of suffering
- নির্বাণ (nirban)state of bliss
Catalan nirvana
- nirvanaBuddhism: cessation of suffering
Chinese Cantonese 涅槃
- 涅槃Buddhism: cessation of suffering
Chinese Mandarin 涅槃, 圓寂 /圆寂
- 涅槃 (nièpán)Buddhism: cessation of suffering
- 圓寂 /圆寂 (yuánjì)Buddhism: cessation of suffering
- 涅槃 (nièpán)state of bliss
- 入寂 (rùjì)state of bliss
Czech nirvána
- nirvánastate of bliss
Dutch nirwana, nirwana
- nirwanaBuddhism: cessation of suffering
- nirwanastate of bliss
Esperanto nirvano, nirvano
- nirvanoBuddhism: cessation of suffering
- nirvanostate of bliss
Estonian nirvaana, nirvaana
- nirvaanaBuddhism: cessation of suffering
- nirvaanastate of bliss
Finnish onni, autuus
- onniBuddhism: cessation of suffering
- autuusBuddhism: cessation of suffering
- nirvanastate of bliss
French nirvana, nirvana
- nirvanaBuddhism: cessation of suffering
- nirvanastate of bliss
German Nirvana, Nirwana
- NirvanaBuddhism: cessation of suffering
- NirwanaBuddhism: cessation of suffering
- Nirvanastate of bliss
- Nirwanastate of bliss
Greek νιρβάνα, νιρβάνα
- νιρβάνα (nirvána)Buddhism: cessation of suffering
- νιρβάνα (nirvána)state of bliss
Hindi निर्वाण, निर्वाण
- निर्वाण (nirvāṇ)Buddhism: cessation of suffering
- निर्वाण (nirvāṇ)state of bliss
Hungarian nirvána, nirvána
- nirvánaBuddhism: cessation of suffering
- nirvánastate of bliss
Indonesian nirwana
- nirwanaBuddhism: cessation of suffering
Irish nirbheána, nirbheána
- nirbheánaBuddhism: cessation of suffering
- nirbheánastate of bliss
Japanese 寂滅, 涅槃
- 寂滅 (jakumetsu)Buddhism: cessation of suffering
- 涅槃 (nehan)Buddhism: cessation of suffering
- 入滅 (nyūmetsu)Buddhism: cessation of suffering
- 入寂 (nyūjaku)state of bliss
- 涅槃 (nehan)state of bliss
Korean 열반, 니르바나
- 열반 (yeolban)Buddhism: cessation of suffering
- 니르바나 (nireubana)Buddhism: cessation of suffering
- 해탈 (haetal)Buddhism: cessation of suffering
- 적멸 (jeongmyeol)Buddhism: cessation of suffering
- 열반 (yeolban)state of bliss
- 니르바나 (nireubana)state of bliss
- 해탈 (haetal)state of bliss
Latin nirvāna
- nirvānaBuddhism: cessation of suffering
Latvian nirvāna
- nirvānaBuddhism: cessation of suffering
Lithuanian nirvana
- nirvanaBuddhism: cessation of suffering
Malay nirwana, nirwana
- nirwanaBuddhism: cessation of suffering
- nirwanastate of bliss
Polish nirwana, nirwana
- nirwanaBuddhism: cessation of suffering
- nirwanastate of bliss
Portuguese nirvana, nirvana
- nirvanaBuddhism: cessation of suffering
- nirvanastate of bliss
Russian нирва́на, нирва́на
- нирва́на (nirvána)Buddhism: cessation of suffering
- нирва́на (nirvána)state of bliss
Spanish nirvana, nirvana
- nirvanaBuddhism: cessation of suffering
- nirvanastate of bliss
Swedish nirvana
- nirvanastate of bliss
Thai นิพพาน, นิพพาน
- นิพพาน (níp-paan)Buddhism: cessation of suffering
- นิพพาน (níp-paan)state of bliss
Ukrainian нірва́на, нірва́на
- нірва́на (nirvána)Buddhism: cessation of suffering
- нірва́на (nirvána)state of bliss
Urdu نروان, نروان
- نروان (nirvāṇ)Buddhism: cessation of suffering
- نروان (nrvān)state of bliss
Vietnamese niết bàn, vô vi
- niết bànBuddhism: cessation of suffering
- vô viBuddhism: cessation of suffering
- tự tạiBuddhism: cessation of suffering
- an lạcBuddhism: cessation of suffering
- niết bànstate of bliss
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with nirvana
Anagrams
Cite this entry
nirvana. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nirvana
“nirvana.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nirvana. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nirvana,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nirvana.
Source: nirvana on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.