dystopia

noun

dys·​to·​pia (ˌ)dis-ˈtō-pē-ə 

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

None had terribly high stakes conflicts, at least by Hollywood action standards; there weren’t nuclear emergencies or car chases or creative dystopias. —Kathy Wang july 14, Literary Hub, 14 July 2025

Richard Sutherland Lakeland America has become a dystopia A dystopia is a community where the order of the day is to bring servitude, misery, poverty, inequality, injustice and suffering. —Letters To The Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 6 July 2025

Cultural or behavioral changes can signal a dystopia even more radically than a technology or a gadget. —Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 3 July 2025

Every good dystopia is a reflection of real-world politics; Suzanne Collins wrote The Hunger Games after seeing the war in Iraq juxtaposed with reality TV, and The Handmaid’s Tale stitches Gilead from real atrocities governments have committed against women. —Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 14 Apr. 2025

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