: the point of the celestial sphere that is directly opposite the zenith and vertically downward from the observer
2
: the lowest point
Illustration of nadir
1 nadir
2 observer
3 zenith
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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 to the English lexicon especially in the fields of mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and chemistry. The source of nadir is naḍhīr, meaning "opposite"—the opposite, that is, of the zenith, the highest point of the celestial sphere which is positioned vertically above the observer. (The word zenith itself is a modification of another Arabic word that means "the way over one's head.") According to our sources, usage of nadir reached an apex in the 1980s. But worry not for the word’s future: it’s still flying high.
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 1995But 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, 1993My 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
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The former president's decision to seek a second term, only to belatedly withdraw amid questions about his mental acuity, has contributed to the Democrats' current nadir.—Susan Page, USA Today, 31 July 2025 Does the unreliability of memory mean that year is misremembered as the nadir from where change stemmed?—Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 30 July 2025 The rate of new marriages among prime-age adults, which hit a nadir during the pandemic, has risen in each of the three years of data since 2020.—Brad Wilcox, The Atlantic, 29 July 2025 Relations have generally been abysmal since, reaching another nadir with the US’s recent bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities.—Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 9 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for nadir
Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Middle French, from Arabic naḍhīr opposite
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