dystopian

adjective

dys·​to·​pi·​an (ˌ)dis-ˈtō-pē-ən 

variants or less commonly dystopic

(ˌ)dis-ˈtō-pik  -ˈtä- 

: of, relating to, or being an imagined world or society in which people lead dehumanized, fearful lives : relating to or characteristic of a dystopia

A twisted romantic haunted by dystopian visions, Gibson borrows the language of science fiction and crafts doomed love stories with high-tech trappings.

—Maitland McDonagh

Dystopian visions are in a sense mythopoeic: depicting a creation myth in a future world of darkness and silence.

—Sarah Lefanu

Biotechnology is a force for good, but without adherence to the ideal of universal human equality, it opens the door to the soft tyranny of Gattaca and, ultimately the dystopian nightmare of Brave New World.

—Wesley J. Smith

Like many advances in science and technology, the dystopian implications of data mining have been described best by science-fiction writers.

—John Markoff

… Orwellian has become a word itself: an adjective denoting a dystopic world where language is cut adrift from meaning.

—Harvey A. Daniels

Letter by letter, we read of a society that seems to move from one dystopic nightmare to another …

—Simon Winchester

Examples of dystopian in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

During unsettled times, strongman candidates also boost their popularity by invoking nostalgia for a vanished past, while depicting the present in dark, dystopian terms as an era in need of a savior. —Michiko Kakutani, TIME, 6 June 2024

The novel traces the dystopian future onto recognizable London landmarks. —Anne Wallentine, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 June 2024

His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. —Nisha Whitehead, Orange County Register, 3 June 2024

The dystopian film hits Netflix on Friday, May 24, but ahead of that, the movie's stars walked the red carpet at the red carpet premiere in Los Angeles on Monday night, May 20. —Kate Hogan, Peoplemag, 21 May 2024

Word History

Etymology

dystopian from dystopia + -an entry 2; dystopic from dystopia + -ic entry 1

First Known Use

1962, in the meaning defined above