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 dystopian novel

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

That the death toll continues to mount during a cease-fire is a testament to the dystopian reality that has become Gaza’s new normal. — Khaled Elgindy, Foreign Affairs, 8 Oct. 2026

The game is set in the fictional cyberpunk metropolis of Night City in California, within the dystopian Cyberpunk universe. — Justin Kroll, Deadline, 8 Oct. 2026

One protester attended the demonstration dressed as a character from The Handmaid’s Tale, a dystopian television series about women in a patriarchal society. — Cayla Bamberger, New York Daily News, 8 Oct. 2026

Tramell Tillman is an American actor best known for playing the turtleneck-wearing, exceedingly loquacious supervisor Seth Milchick on the award-winning Apple TV (formerly Apple TV+) dystopian sci-fi thriller Severance (2022– ). — Laura Payne, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Oct. 2026

Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

1962, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for dystopian

• bupropion
• ectropion
• fallopian
• utopian
• ethiopian