Nietzsche

American  

[nee-chuh, -chee] / ˈni tʃə, -tʃi /

noun

1. Friedrich Wilhelm 1844–1900, German philosopher.

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Nietzsche British  

/ ˈniːtʃə, ˈniːtʃɪən /

noun

1. Friedrich Wilhelm (ˈfriːdrɪç ˈvɪlhɛlm). 1844–1900, German philosopher, poet, and critic, noted esp for his concept of the superman and his rejection of traditional Christian values. His chief works are The Birth of Tragedy (1872), Thus Spake Zarathustra (1883–91), and Beyond Good and Evil (1886)

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Other Word Forms

• Nietzschean noun
• Nietzscheism noun

Example Sentences

In Germany, nobody gets citizenship without proving basic proficiency in the language of Nietzsche, Goethe and Steffi Graf.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 17, 2026

The bookshelves were indeed filled with copies of Nietzsche, biographies of Napoleon and a volume entitled The Dictator’s Handbook.

From BBC • Sep. 19, 2024

Shortly thereafter, Miss Teen USA stepped down with a letter that opens with a quote from Nietzsche.

From Slate • May 16, 2024

But she opened her resignation statement this week with the Nietzsche quotation, "There are no beautiful surfaces without a terrible depth."

From Salon • May 9, 2024

The quotation, commonly attributed to Nietzsche, that “there is no immaculate perception,” perfectly captures how cognitive schemas—thought structures—influence what we notice and how the things we notice get interpreted.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander