as in self-immolation
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Recent Examples of self-annihilation
The will toward self-annihilation is a familiar human characteristic.
—
Henry Freedland, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025
Her self-annihilation is grisly and impossible to misinterpret as a final repudiation of her role in the HMS Courageous bombing and, until Grace announces she’d like Hal to be her vice-president, is the most intense and far-reaching twist of the episode.
—Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 16 Oct. 2025
And he is compelled by a righteous fury to warn others of his son’s dark path to self-annihilation.
—Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 22 June 2025
The broken family exults in its own debasement just like the protesters and activist judges who pursue self-annihilation as liberation.
—Armond White, National Review, 19 Mar. 2025
The clock, which is updated by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, is meant to be a metaphor for how close humanity is to self-annihilation.
—Rebecca Morin, USA TODAY, 29 Jan. 2025
The image becomes metabolized by the fungus in a process of self-annihilation and, like the memory itself, given a new kind of presence through its decay.
—Mariana Fernández, ARTnews.com, 18 Dec. 2024
The Doomsday Clock is a metaphor for how close humanity is to self-annihilation, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which has maintained the clock since 1947.
—Doyle Rice, The Courier-Journal, 23 Jan. 2024
These stellar objects, called dark stars, might have been fueled not by nuclear fusion but by the self-annihilation of dark matter—the invisible stuff that is thought to make up about 85 percent of the matter in the universe.
—Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 20 July 2023
Henry Freedland, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025
Her self-annihilation is grisly and impossible to misinterpret as a final repudiation of her role in the HMS Courageous bombing and, until Grace announces she’d like Hal to be her vice-president, is the most intense and far-reaching twist of the episode.
—Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 16 Oct. 2025
And he is compelled by a righteous fury to warn others of his son’s dark path to self-annihilation.
—Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 22 June 2025
The broken family exults in its own debasement just like the protesters and activist judges who pursue self-annihilation as liberation.
—Armond White, National Review, 19 Mar. 2025
The clock, which is updated by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, is meant to be a metaphor for how close humanity is to self-annihilation.
—Rebecca Morin, USA TODAY, 29 Jan. 2025
The image becomes metabolized by the fungus in a process of self-annihilation and, like the memory itself, given a new kind of presence through its decay.
—Mariana Fernández, ARTnews.com, 18 Dec. 2024
The Doomsday Clock is a metaphor for how close humanity is to self-annihilation, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which has maintained the clock since 1947.
—Doyle Rice, The Courier-Journal, 23 Jan. 2024
These stellar objects, called dark stars, might have been fueled not by nuclear fusion but by the self-annihilation of dark matter—the invisible stuff that is thought to make up about 85 percent of the matter in the universe.
—Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 20 July 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-annihilation
Noun
-
Ratansen dies defending his honor; Padmavati and the women of Chitor perform jauhar (the ancient Rajput practice of self-immolation to avoid capture).—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
9 Apr. 2026
-
Texas Democrats got to enjoy the glow of a surprise victory in Tarrant County for just about a day before the party reverted to its uncommon capacity for self-immolation.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
9 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
This idea of reasonableness is easily caricatured as moral timidity or a bloodless neutrality that drains politics of passion.—
Nikhil Krishnan,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
-
These can produce questionably high numbers of carbon credits that can be sold for a lot of money to companies with carbon neutrality slogans on their in-flight napkins.—
Susan Shelley,
Oc Register,
18 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Luminate has a series of extensive checks and balances in place to detect any fraudulent data from providers to ensure the objectivity of the chart.—
Kyle Eustice,
VIBE.com,
30 Mar. 2026
-
Having cast doubt on Beatty’s objectivity, Hilborn then made the case that Wilkens’ fear may have stemmed from something other than abuse.—
Pamela Colloff,
ProPublica,
24 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Both the criticism and self-flagellation imply that the act of claiming another person’s words can render these words deceitful, even if the words have been paid for and the content is true.—
Emily Hodgson Anderson,
The Conversation,
25 Mar. 2026
-
Huerta shouldn’t have to engage in this rite of self-flagellation, of course, but she and Chavez are linked by their legacies as two of the greatest civil rights fighters in our history.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The company accepted charitable grants, including thirty million dollars from what was then called Open Philanthropy, a hub of the effective-altruism movement whose commitments included supporting the distribution of mosquito nets to the global poor.—
Ronan Farrow,
New Yorker,
6 Apr. 2026
-
Biblical scholar Bart Ehrman contends that our modern sense of altruism can be traced back to the radical shift in ethical thinking sparked by Jesus' teachings.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
26 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Bondi's public embrace of the president, however, marked a sharp departure from her predecessors, who generally took pains to maintain an arm's-length distance from the White House to protect the impartiality of investigations and prosecutions.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
3 Apr. 2026
-
Embracing, supporting and protecting the president Bondi’s public embrace of the president, however, marked a sharp departure from her predecessors, who generally took pains to maintain an arm’s-length distance from the White House to protect the impartiality of investigations and prosecutions.—
Michelle L. Price,
Chicago Tribune,
2 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Self-annihilation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-annihilation. Accessed 21 Apr. 2026.
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