Definition of dystopia
1 : an imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives
2 literature : anti-utopia 2 writing a dystopia
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Recent Examples of dystopia from the Web
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Eastern Aleppo may not have been Raqqa, where ISIS advertised its rigid Islamist dystopia and its mass beheadings.
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The Yeltsin era, which had begun with so much promise, had turned into a shambolic, deeply corrupt dystopia.
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Like that play, this latest work is set in a dystopia around the corner, in a world that at first glance seems much like our own.
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Set in a gloomy dystopia where society is ordered by single people and couples, the story tells of a hotel where the guests are given forty-five days to find a mate, or else be transformed into an animal of their choosing.
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The Handmaid's Tale is an adaptation of a classic Margaret Atwood novel from 1985, which is set in a dystopia of the near future.
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The Lobster is set in a dystopia as dense and in need of exposition as some of 2016’s biggest sci-fi franchises, and an early scene provides exactly that.
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Only doom, dystopia, dread, darkness — and a bumper-sticker solution to restoring greatness.
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The lineup of speakers presented a United States in danger, threatened from abroad and from within, a once-proud nation on the very brink of chaos and dystopia.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dystopia'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of dystopia
New Latin, from dys- + -topia (as in utopia)
First Known Use: circa 1950
DYSTOPIA Defined for English Language Learners
dystopia
play
noun
Definition of dystopia for English Language Learners
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: an imaginary place where people are unhappy and usually afraid because they are not treated fairly
Medical Dictionary
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