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
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But in the case of the Rockies in recent years, that’s just been infernal noise.—
Patrick Saunders,
Denver Post,
15 Feb. 2026
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Those lessons are reinforced in songs (by Shawn Coleman), which sound like every infernal childhood jingle that ever got stuck in your head.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
24 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The hellish scenes in Tehran were emblematic of the direct link between this war, energy infrastructure and global markets.—
Alexander Smith,
NBC news,
9 Mar. 2026
-
Set in a Southern English town, the film follows Xavier Prince (Lukeba), a deeply troubled man whose good deed turns into a hellish nightmare when he’s accused of murder.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
27 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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As a boy growing up in Port Arthur, Texas, an oil refinery town of sulfurous air, Rauschenberg often wore clothes his mother had patched together from assorted fabric scraps.—
Scott Cantrell,
Dallas Morning News,
21 Feb. 2026
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Dante’s description of Hell is said by some to have been inspired by the landscape of sulfurous steam plumes found in Devil’s Valley in Tuscany.—
Rivka Galchen,
New Yorker,
17 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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During a roughly four-hour timespan centered on the time of perihelion, the comet will appear to pass behind the sun as seen from our earthly perspective, then rapidly swing around and cross in front of the sun.—
Joe Rao,
Space.com,
10 Mar. 2026
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In the album’s most beautiful moments, Triplin makes arpeggios sound like prancing through an earthly paradise and sands off juke’s rough edges to produce rhythms that seem to chug along in the margins of a daydreaming brain.—
Kiana Mickles,
Pitchfork,
5 Mar. 2026
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 12 Mar. 2026.
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