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Definition of nadir
1 : the point of the celestial sphere that is directly opposite the zenith and vertically downward from the observer
2 : the lowest point
From the M-W Editors
nadir was our Word of the Day on 06/30/2016. Hear the podcast!
Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP
Examples of nadir in a Sentence
Nantucket reached its nadir in the post-Civil War period. The whaling industry had become moribund, many New Englanders had been lured to California by the discovery of gold, and the island population dropped from ten thousand in 1830 to scarcely more than three thousand in 1880. —David H. Wood, Antiques, August 1995
But then, at the very nadir of that dark abandoned moment, that moment of despair and sickness unto death, … —T. Coraghessan Boyle, The Road to Wellville, 1993
My nadir was the time I presented an oral book report on “Les Misérables,” having read only the Classic Comics version … —Stephen Jay Gould, New York Times Book Review, 12 Oct. 1986
The relationship between the two countries reached a nadir in the 1920s.
the discussion really reached its nadir when people resorted to name-calling
Recent Examples of nadir from the Web
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Angelos wanted to fire Regan after the Orioles’ disappointing season reached a nadir with four straight losses in Boston, but the owner held off, thinking a change would detract from the streak celebration soon to occur.
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The Uber-driver relationship reached a nadir after a dashcam video surfaced in late February showing Kalanick berating the driver.
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Helmut Kohl, the long-serving former chancellor whose life in the political limelight spanned the joyous zenith of German reunification and the shattering nadir of a corruption scandal, died Friday at his home in Ludwigshafen, Germany.
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The U.S. strongly opposed France’s 1956 military seizure of the Suez Canal, and relations hit a nadir when President Charles De Gaulle in 1966 ordered U.S. military forces to leave France.
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And when the end of the Cold War brought a spur of optimism in the 1990s, psychoanalysis reached its nadir.
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Sadly, this turns out not to be the nadir for poor Shula.
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That dipped to 55.4% in 2015, 49.7% last year and has hit a nadir of 47.5% this season.
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The nadir of the excursion so far is Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’s blithe praise for the total absence of protest or dissent in Saudi Arabia.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'nadir'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
nadir Has Arabic Roots
Nadir is part of the galaxy of scientific words that have come to us from Arabic, a language that has made important contributions in the vocabulary of mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and chemistry. Nadir derives from an Arabic word meaning "opposite"—the opposite, that is, of the zenith, or the highest point of the celestial sphere, the one vertically above the observer. (The word zenith itself is a modification of another Arabic word that means "the way over one's head.") The English poet John Donne is first on record as having used nadir in the figurative sense of "lowest point" in a sermon he wrote in 1627.
Illustration of nadir
Origin and Etymology of nadir
Middle English, from Middle French, from Arabic naḍhīr opposite
NADIR Defined for English Language Learners
nadir
playDefinition of nadir for English Language Learners
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: the worst or lowest point of something
Learn More about nadir
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See words that rhyme with nadir Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for nadir Spanish Central: Translation of nadir Nglish: Translation of nadir for Spanish speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about nadir
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