'antinihilist' originates from the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti-' meaning 'against') combined with the Latin word 'nihil' meaning 'nothing', plus the English agent-forming suffix '-ist'.

'antinihilist' was formed in modern English by prefacing the existing word 'nihilist' (itself derived from Latin 'nihil' via 19th-century usages of 'nihilism' in German and Russian) with 'anti-' to denote opposition; it is a direct modern English compound rather than a word with a long separate medieval history.

Initially coined to denote someone opposed to nihilism, the term's meaning has remained essentially the same: an opponent of nihilistic doctrines or attitudes.