dystopia

noun

dys·to·pia | \ (ˌ)dis-ˈtō-pē-ə

Essential Meaning of dystopia

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

Full Definition of dystopia

1 : an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives There's almost a flavor of science fiction to the scenes Chilson describes, as though he were giving us a glimpse into a 21st-century dystopia of mad egoism and hurtling hulks of metal.— Adam Goodheart 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 Surreal aquatic head gear, masks and breathing apparatus at the Botter show conjured up a underwater dystopia. — Thomas Adamson, USA TODAY, 29 Sep. 2021 Surreal aquatic head gear, masks and breathing apparatus at the Botter show conjured up a underwater dystopia. — Time, 29 Sep. 2021 Surreal aquatic head gear, masks and breathing apparatus at the Botter show conjured up a underwater dystopia. — Thomas Adamson, ajc, 28 Sep. 2021 More recently, there’s Memory of Water by Emmi Itäranta, about a tea master in a water-scarce dystopia, and novellas like The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard. — Jason Kehe, Wired, 16 Sep. 2021 In Dave Eggers’ The Every, a follow-up to his 2013 novel The Circle, the tech dystopia that characters navigate bears a strong resemblance to our current reality, dialed up a notch or two. — Sarah Todd, Quartz, 26 Aug. 2021 Jenkins subtly flips the script, creating a world where the reality is the dystopia — no artifice or time-warp conceits necessary. — Washington Post, 14 May 2021 But the fact of any performance is buoying; that artists, fans and venues have faith in an end to the dystopia that isolated them for so long. — Nathan Rizzo | For The Oregonian/oregonlive, oregonlive, 29 July 2021 Why blow half your budget on re-creating a terrestrial dystopia, rife with special effects, when a few words can sketch out the eco-disaster and set our imaginations racing? — Anthony Lan, The New Yorker, 16 July 2021

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.