cyberpunk

noun

cy·​ber·​punk ˈsī-bər-ˌpəŋk How to pronounce cyberpunk (audio)
1
: science fiction dealing with future urban societies dominated by computer technology
2
: an opportunistic computer hacker

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Cyberpunk and Literature

In science fiction circles, "cyberpunk" is a genre that often features countercultural antiheroes trapped in a dehumanizing high-tech future. Its roots extend back to the technical fiction of the 1940s and '50s, but it was years before it matured. The word cyberpunk was coined by writer Bruce Bethke, who wrote a story with that title in 1980. He created the term by combining "cybernetics," the science of replacing human functions with computerized ones, and "punk," the raucous music and nihilistic sensibility that became a youth culture in the 1970s and '80s. Not until the 1984 publication of William Gibson's novel, Neuromancer, however, did "cyberpunk" really take off as a term or a genre.

Examples of cyberpunk in a Sentence

the bank had to overhaul its online banking system after a cyberpunk broke into the accounts of thousands of customers
Recent Examples on the Web
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The rights have reverted back to Kodansha, the manga publisher that first put out the postapocalyptic cyberpunk story by Katsuhiro Otomo in 1982. Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 27 June 2025 Pair it with: Akudama Drive for another recent and tragic cyberpunk story. Rafael Motamayor, Vulture, 4 June 2025 The same cyberpunk aesthetic that has defined countless Asus ROG products over recent years returns, including the Anime Matrix RGB lighting across the monitor cabinet’s back. PC Magazine, 30 May 2025 Streaming on Crunchyroll Crunchyroll Also check out: Ghost in the Shell and its sequel film for more existentialism and cyberpunk sci-fi classics. Kambole Campbell, Vulture, 25 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for cyberpunk

Word History

First Known Use

1983, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of cyberpunk was in 1983

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Cite this Entry

“Cyberpunk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cyberpunk. Accessed 14 Jul. 2025.

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