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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for chthonic
Adjective
-
The infernal noise was an equal opportunity terrifier — frightening both men and women.—
Brady MacDonald,
Oc Register,
2 Oct. 2025
-
His infernal fantasies connect to Riley’s haunted autobiographies, her family photos rewoven into monumental weavings.—
Jerry Saltz,
Vulture,
29 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The younger, David Fagen of Tampa, was a nineteen-year-old phosphate miner who worked hellish ten-hour shifts for one dollar a day.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
15 Oct. 2025
-
There’s also an alien Sequid army slowly forming, Cecil Stedman (Walton Goggins) is secretly keeping Conquest incarcerated, the battle-hungry Battle Beast is alive and the demonic detective Damien Darkblood is summoning a hellish monster to fight Invincible.—
Jordan Moreau,
Variety,
10 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Why Broccoli Smells Like all cruciferous vegetables, broccoli contains sulfurous compounds that are released during cooking.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
10 Oct. 2025
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There’s plenty of tit-for-tat going around in today’s sulfurous climate.—
Mark Z. Barabak,
Mercury News,
10 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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In early Christian thinking, its connotations of languor and listlessness, within the spirit no less than the body, lent it the status of a sin—a turning aside from God for the sake of earthly sorrow.—
Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
13 Oct. 2025
-
Ordinary matter makes up everything from the cosmic (planets and stars) to the earthly (people and trees).—
Eric Lagatta,
USA Today,
13 Oct. 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 20 Oct. 2025.
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