Schopenhauer

American  

[shoh-puhn-hou-er, shoh-puhn-hou-uhr] / ˈʃoʊ pənˌhaʊ ər, ˈʃoʊ pənˌhaʊ ər /

noun

1. Arthur 1788–1860, German philosopher.

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Schopenhauer British  

/ ˈʃoːpənhauər, ˌʃəʊpənˈhaʊərɪən /

noun

1. Arthur (ˈartʊr). 1788–1860, German pessimist philosopher. In his chief work, The World as Will and Idea (1819), he expounded the view that will is the creative primary factor and idea the secondary receptive factor

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Other Word Forms

• Schopenhauerian adjective
• Schopenhauerism noun

Example Sentences

In his program note, Sharon quotes the doom-laden philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer as an inspiration for Wagner’s nothing-is-real masterpiece.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026

Life, as the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer once said, is a pendulum that swings between pain and boredom.

From New York Times • Jan. 19, 2024

A favorite passage from “King Lear” appears in “Birthday Candles,” and the name of an onstage goldfish — Atman — comes from the name of a poodle adored by the great German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 15, 2022

Reason, as Schopenhauer puts it, echoing Hume, is the hard-pressed servant of the will.

From Salon • Nov. 1, 2020

We learned that a bright button is weightier than four volumes of Schopenhauer.

From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque