steampunk

noun

steam·​punk ˈstēm-ˌpəŋk 

: science fiction dealing with 19th-century societies dominated by historical or imagined steam-powered technology

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I think Victorian fantasies are going to be the next big thing, as long as we can come up with a fitting collective term for [Tim] Powers, [James] Blaylock and myself. So wrote the science-fiction author K. W. Jeter, credited with coining the term steampunk in 1987 to describe a wave of fantasy novels set in Victorian times and celebrating the technology of the era, much of which was powered by steam. In both name and subject, steampunk is an antithesis to cyberpunk, a genre often noted for featuring computerized, futuristic, or unearthly settings. The popularity of steampunk has since carried over to motion pictures, fashion, and even things like restaurant décor.

Examples of steampunk in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

You could get lost in the grandeur of the rocket boosters, full of solid rocket propellant like a firework, or the steampunk bell curve of the main engines, which shoot the spacecraft to more than 17,000 miles per hour in orbit. — Laura Zornosa, Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2026

Cora, the granddaughter of a woman kidnapped from West Africa and sold into slavery, flees her captor’s plantation, plunging her into the book’s alternate steampunk reality where she is pursued by the merciless slave catcher Ridgeway. — David Faris, TheWeek, 16 Sep. 2026

I'mPhaedra Trethan, checking out my colleague Trevor Hughes' Mad Max-Dune-steampunk visions from Burning Man. — Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 1 Sep. 2026

The ride will close towards the end of next year to accommodate the update, which will see a new spin on the original steampunk theme. — K.j. Yossman, Variety, 17 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

steam entry 1 + cyberpunk

First Known Use

1987, in the meaning defined above

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