dystopia

noun

dys·​to·​pia (ˌ)dis-ˈtō-pē-ə 

1

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

An … electric novel that blurs the lines between dystopia and reality.

—Leigh Haber

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

writing a dystopia

… 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

America isn’t there yet, but ALPR technology is leading the long march to this dystopia. — Steven Greenhut, Oc Register, 14 Aug. 2026

Like any good far future dystopia, SpaceCorp positions massive corporations as the true governing entities of the future, swapping in private investors for diplomats and corporate boards for politicians. — Alan Bradley, Space.com, 14 Aug. 2026

Information fatigue, misinformation fatigue, cost-of-living fatigue, fear-of-dying fatigue, outrage fatigue, relationship fatigue, dystopia fatigue. — Donna Vickroy, Chicago Tribune, 13 Aug. 2026

Then there are folks like Vinod Khosla and Elon Musk, who predict people won’t need money or jobs, without telling us how this utopia/dystopia will come to pass. — Diane Brady, Fortune, 3 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

dys- + -topia (in utopia)

First Known Use

1919, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for dystopia

• amblyopia
• cornucopia
• hyperopia
• atropia
• cecropia
• diplopia
• myopia
• utopia
• hypermetropia

Kids Definition

dystopia

noun

dys·​to·​pia (ˌ)dis-ˈtō-pē-ə 

: an imaginary place where people are unhappy and usually afraid because they are not treated fairly

also : a work of literature about such a place

dystopian

-ən

adjective

Medical Definition

dystopia

noun

dys·​to·​pia dis-ˈtō-pē-ə 

: malposition of an anatomical part

dystopic

-ˈtō-pik  -ˈtäp-ik 

adjective