variants
also chthonian
as in infernal
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Recent Examples of chthonic
Aeacus, a judge of the dead, and Thanatos, winged daemon of death, are chthonic.
—
Lewis Hyde, Harpers Magazine, 18 June 2025
That’s because the Greeks distinguished between Olympian gods, who lived on Mt. Olympus, and chthonic gods, who lived in the underworld.
—Cody Cottier, Discover Magazine, 20 Jan. 2025
But Lloyd is less interested in the specifics of either work than in the chthonic rage underneath.
—Helen Shaw, The New Yorker, 25 Oct. 2024
And no one suffers quite like the True Believer; surrendering to optimism is an invitation for chthonic forces to start doling out a whole lot of emotional rump puntings.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 16 Aug. 2024
Before the backdrop of a magmatic cavern stand three adventurers: a warrior, a mage, and a trickster who, with a roll of the dice, are preparing to defeat a tentacled chthonic beast.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 14 May 2024
Like the first game, Hades II puts you in the role of a child of Hades who, with the aid of their extended family of Olympic gods, chthonic figures, and lesser deities, must face a never-ending gauntlet to escape the realm to which they’re bound.
—Nikki McCann Ramirez, Rolling Stone, 9 May 2024
Hades and Persephone are chthonic deities, and the word can also be used more poetically to describe something dark and deathly, with a sinister power.
—Frances Vinall, Washington Post, 2 June 2023
Along with enduring anxious nights underground during aerial warfare, each is shown in his own way to have drawn on more transcendent themes, namely the chthonic mysteries of the English landscape and the polymorphous eroticism of the nude human body.
—Richard B. Woodward, WSJ, 3 Dec. 2022
Lewis Hyde, Harpers Magazine, 18 June 2025
That’s because the Greeks distinguished between Olympian gods, who lived on Mt. Olympus, and chthonic gods, who lived in the underworld.
—Cody Cottier, Discover Magazine, 20 Jan. 2025
But Lloyd is less interested in the specifics of either work than in the chthonic rage underneath.
—Helen Shaw, The New Yorker, 25 Oct. 2024
And no one suffers quite like the True Believer; surrendering to optimism is an invitation for chthonic forces to start doling out a whole lot of emotional rump puntings.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 16 Aug. 2024
Before the backdrop of a magmatic cavern stand three adventurers: a warrior, a mage, and a trickster who, with a roll of the dice, are preparing to defeat a tentacled chthonic beast.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 14 May 2024
Like the first game, Hades II puts you in the role of a child of Hades who, with the aid of their extended family of Olympic gods, chthonic figures, and lesser deities, must face a never-ending gauntlet to escape the realm to which they’re bound.
—Nikki McCann Ramirez, Rolling Stone, 9 May 2024
Hades and Persephone are chthonic deities, and the word can also be used more poetically to describe something dark and deathly, with a sinister power.
—Frances Vinall, Washington Post, 2 June 2023
Along with enduring anxious nights underground during aerial warfare, each is shown in his own way to have drawn on more transcendent themes, namely the chthonic mysteries of the English landscape and the polymorphous eroticism of the nude human body.
—Richard B. Woodward, WSJ, 3 Dec. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for chthonic
Adjective
-
An infernal barrage of blazes continues to ravage the Los Angeles metropolitan region, where the death toll has now risen to at least 10 individuals.—
Sharon Udasin,
The Hill,
10 Jan. 2025
-
The damaged reactor cores continue to glow with infernal heat, so plant employees must keep spraying them with water to cool them and prevent another meltdown.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
28 Feb. 2014
Adjective
-
This theory dovetails neatly with several observations, including ones showing a roughly uniform distribution of Io’s volcanoes, which seem to be tapping the same omnipresent, hellish source of melt.—
Robin Andrews,
Wired News,
15 June 2025
-
The freaky period piece and tragic family drama features Anja Taylor-Joy as a troubled 17th-century teen on the cusp of adulthood who goes down a dark path and Black Phillip as the G.O.A.T. of hellish goats. 23.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
14 June 2025
Adjective
-
The large red ring is sulfurous fallout from the plume of the Pele volcano.—
Robin Andrews,
Wired News,
15 June 2025
-
By 1990, bootleg versions of the book had washed up for sale in the pages of far-right magazines, peddled alongside sulfurous predictions of American concentration camps and a helpful who’s who of global elitists.—
Dan Piepenbring,
Harper's Magazine,
19 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
His earthly travails were soul-sapping and then some.—
George Varga,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
11 June 2025
-
The Yoruba people believe that the Osun-Osogbo grove, which sprawls across 185 acres of dense forest, is the goddess Osun’s earthly home.—
Ogar Monday,
Christian Science Monitor,
8 May 2025
Adjective
-
The morning of April 1, 1976, Moore announced on a BBC radio station that at 9:47 am, Pluto would pass behind Jupiter, creating the Jovian-Plutonian Gravitational Effect.—
National Geographic,
National Geographic,
31 Mar. 2016
-
His most recent discoveries, the two tiny Plutonian satellites, were named with the help of a popular vote.—
Nadia Drake,
WIRED,
15 July 2013
Cite this Entry
“Chthonic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chthonic. Accessed 3 Jul. 2025.
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