nirvana

American  

[nir-vah-nuh, -van-uh, ner-] / nɪrˈvɑ nə, -ˈvæn ə, nər- /

noun

1. Pali nibbana.  (often initial capital letter) freedom from the endless cycle of personal reincarnations, with their consequent suffering, as a result of the extinction of individual passion, hatred, and delusion: attained by the Arhat as his goal but postponed by the Bodhisattva.

2. (often initial capital letter) salvation through the union of Atman with Brahma; moksha.

3. a place or state characterized by freedom from or oblivion to pain, worry, and the external world.

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nirvana British  

/ nɜː-, nɪəˈvɑːnə /

noun

1. Buddhism Hinduism final release from the cycle of reincarnation attained by extinction of all desires and individual existence, culminating (in Buddhism) in absolute blessedness, or (in Hinduism) in absorption into Brahman

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nirvana Cultural  

1. In Buddhism, the highest state of consciousness, in which the soul is freed from all desires and attachments. Nirvana is sometimes inaccurately used as a synonym for heaven or paradise.

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Other Word Forms

• nirvanic adjective

Etymology

Origin of nirvana

First recorded in 1830–40, nirvana is from the Sanskrit word nirvāṇa

Compare meaning

How does nirvana compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• moksha vs. nirvana

Explanation

Nirvana is a place of perfect peace and happiness, like heaven. In Buddhism, nirvana is the highest state that someone can attain, a state of enlightenment, meaning a person's individual desires and suffering go away. The origin of the word nirvana relates to religious enlightenment; it comes from the Sanskrit meaning "extinction, disappearance" of the individual to the universal. Achieving nirvana is to make earthly feelings like suffering and desire disappear. It's often used casually to mean any place of happiness, like if you love chocolate, going to Hershey's Park would be nirvana. On the other hand, if you're a Buddhist monk, it may take you years of meditating to reach nirvana.

Example Sentences

In my time in Florida, I’d found a more complicated story, but down here, everyone had their theories, their longing for citrus nirvana, and their anger at the loss.

From Slate • Apr. 20, 2026

The WBC achieved nirvana in 2023, when Team USA met Japan in the championship, and Shohei Ohtani stood on the mound to face then-Angels teammate Mike Trout in the bottom of the ninth.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 5, 2026

As awful as the pandemic was for just about everyone, it could be considered nirvana for retailers.

From Barron's • Dec. 23, 2025

But once you’re out of the chair and on your way, you’re one step closer to aesthetic nirvana.

From Los Angeles Times • May 12, 2025

After being corrected and printed, the one thousand five hundred pages reduced themselves to six hundred, yielding a voluminous treatise on the ninety- nine names of God and formulas for attaining nirvana through respiratory exercise.

From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende

Related Words

• heaven