merriam-webster.com

Definition of DYSTOPIA

  • ️Mon Feb 03 2025

1

: an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives

There's almost a flavor of science fiction to the scenes Chilson describes, as though he were giving us a glimpse into a 21st-century dystopia of mad egoism and hurtling hulks of metal.Adam Goodheart

Over the course of the movie, the late-60's ideal of togetherness turns into a dystopia of violence, revulsion and finally death.John Leland

2

: anti-utopia sense 2

… leaping across the century to the 1990's to attempt a dystopia about the disintegration of Australian democracy into startling, irreversible despotism.Pearl K. Bell

Examples of dystopia in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

They were strung out, seeking help, and fell into a confounding dystopia. Teri Sforza, Orange County Register, 27 Jan. 2025 Cyberpunk authors dreamed such visions as dystopias, but team Trump sees them as blueprints. Scott Rosenberg, Axios, 22 Jan. 2025 This year, the dystopia those scammers have ushered in has begun to spread worldwide, with operations cropping up in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and West Africa. Wired Staff, WIRED, 30 Dec. 2024 There’s no overstating the impact Blade Runner had on future visions of science-fiction dystopias, if not more generally the neo-noir sheen that has become the default look of so many genre films about glittering cityscapes of rain and shadow. Scott Tobias, Vulture, 20 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for dystopia 

Word History

Etymology

dys- + -topia (in utopia)

First Known Use

1919, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of dystopia was in 1919

Dictionary Entries Near dystopia

Cite this Entry

“Dystopia.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dystopia. Accessed 7 Feb. 2025.

Share

More from Merriam-Webster on dystopia

Last Updated: 3 Feb 2025 - Updated example sentences

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Merriam-Webster unabridged