abyss

noun

ə-ˈbis 

a-,

 also  ˈa-(ˌ)bis

1

a

: an immeasurably deep gulf or great space

gazed down into the gaping abyss

the ocean's abysses

(figurative) a widening abyss between the rich and the poor

b

: intellectual or moral depths

an abyss of moral depravity

an abyss of despair

2

: the bottomless gulf, pit, or chaos of the old cosmogonies

Synonyms

• ocean
• chasm
• gulf
• expanse
• deep

Examples of abyss in a Sentence

looking down at the dark ocean from the ship's rail, the cruise passenger felt as though he was staring into an abyss

Recent Examples on the Web

Mike Birbiglia’s The Good Life, Marc Maron’s Panicked, Cameron Esposito’s Four Pills, and Bill Burr’s Drop Dead Years are all hours of comedy about reckoning with mortality, and each in their own way is a lovely, absurd, painful depiction of someone staring into an abyss and choosing to laugh. —Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 6 Aug. 2025

Which is a reminder that inflation is a policy choice, not some long and painful hike back from the proverbial abyss. —John Tamny, Forbes.com, 27 July 2025

Only Season 18 is currently available to stream on Tubi; the other, superior seasons are lost in the digital abyss. —Rebecca Luther, TVLine, 20 July 2025

Her breath slowing and something deep inside her, the abyss, sighing. —Mona Awad, New Yorker, 20 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Late Latin abyssus, borrowed from Greek ábyssos "bottomless, unfathomable, (as noun) bottomless gulf," from a- a- entry 2 + byssós "depth of the sea," probably going back to *byth-yos, derivative of bythós "depth, deepest part, bottom," probably of pre-Greek substratal origin

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for abyss

• amiss
• chlamys
• dismiss
• premiss
• remiss
• bis
• bliss
• criss
• dis
• diss
• hiss
• kiss

Kids Definition

abyss

noun

ə-ˈbis 

: a gulf so deep or a space so great that it cannot be measured