dystopia
UK/dɪsˈtəʊ.pi.ə/US/dɪsˈtoʊ.pi.ə/
More pronunciations (2)Fewer pronunciations
dystopia noun: a miserable, dysfunctional state or society that has a very poor standard of living or severe censorship, oppression, etc.
Noun
dystopia (countable and uncountable, plural dystopia or dystopias or dystopiae)
- A miserable, dysfunctional state or society that has a very poor standard of living or severe censorship, oppression, etc.
- As novelist, he knows, too, that when he sees the future, it will not work—he will automatically be creating a “dystopia” (no one creates utopias any more: even the utopias of the past look like dystopias to us).1978 November 19, Martin Amis, “A Stoked‐Up 1976”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
- 2. FEAR OF TECHNOLOGY/THE BOMB/THE FUTURE—Progress run amok, either in the form of cybernetic creatures that turn against their masters, or future dystopiae in which society is controlled by technology.1997, Jeff Yang, Dina Gan, Terry Hong, the staff of A. Magazine, Eastern Standard Time: A Guide to Asian Influence on American Culture: from Astro Boy to Zen Buddhism, Mariner Books, →ISBN, page 57
- Synonyms:
- cacotopia, anti-utopia
- Antonyms:
- utopia
- Anatomical tissue that is not found in its usual place.
- The patient suffers from adrenal dystopia.
- 2. Dystopiæ of separate organs.1899, Joshua M. Van Cott, Jr., “Pathology of the Fœtus—Anomalies of the Fœtus”, in Charles Jewett, editor, The Practice of Obstetrics by American Authors, New York, N.Y.; Philadelphia, Pa.: Lea...
- Synonyms:
- ectopia, ectopy, heterotopia, malposition
dystopia meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and Indonesian
dystopia in Hindi
- miserable society
- रावणराज्य rāvaṇrājya
dystopia in Tamil
- உறுப்பு இடப் பிறழ்ச்சி, பிறழ்ந்த உலகு, பிறழ் உலகு, பிறழுலகு, பிறழ் உலகம், பிறழுலகம்
dystopia in Bengali
- miserable society
- দুঃস্বপ্নলোক dush-shawp-no-lok
dystopia in Indonesian
- miserable society
- rat petaka
- medical condition
- malaposisi
More languagesFewer languages
- dystopia in Persian
- ویرانشهر virân-šahr
- dystopia in Vietnamese
- phản địa đàng
Examples of dystopia in a sentence
- Recollections tattooed with stiletto reasons and a sorrowful slant of light admitting of dystopiae already petrified in progress.2003, Judith Fitzgerald, Adagios: Iphigenia’s Song, Oberon Press, →ISBN, page 50:
- Its function is to legitimate that particular form of moral tribalism based on the “pedagogy of hatred” that [Evgeny] Zamiatin and [George] Orwell described so brilliantly in their dystopiae.2003, Luciano Pellicani, Revolutionary Apocalypse: Ideological Roots of Terrorism, Westport, Conn.; London: Praeger, →ISBN, page 233:
- It was like some sort of futuristic dystopia.2014 December 11, Megan Willett-Wei, “The 16 Most Disappointing Places To Visit On Earth”, in Business Insider:
- Like many dystopiae, it ends up with the lead characters wandering into a sylvan wilderness (an English wood) away from the nasty city.2017, Kim Newman, Kim Newman’s Video Dungeon: The Collected Reviews, Titan Books, →ISBN:
Synonyms of dystopia
Antonyms
Forms of dystopia
| plural | dystopia |
|---|---|
| plural | dystopias |
| plural | dystopiae |
Origin of dystopia
From dys- + -topia, as if from Ancient Greek δυσ- (dus-, “bad”) + τόπος (tópos, “place, region”) + -ία (-ía), based on utopia being reinterpreted as eu-topia.
Words formed from dystopia
Words that rhyme with dystopia
- Ethiopia
- heterotopia
- myopia
- anisohypermetropia
- autopia
- ectopia
- erythrochloropia
- euryopia
- eutopia
- gaytopia
- heteromyopia
- hypermetropia
11 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about dystopia
- What does dystopia mean?
- Dystopia means a miserable, dysfunctional state or society that has a very poor standard of living or severe censorship, oppression, etc.
- What is dystopia in Hindi?
- Dystopia in Hindi is रावणराज्य (rāvaṇrājya). See Dystopia meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use dystopia in a sentence?
- Recollections tattooed with stiletto reasons and a sorrowful slant of light admitting of dystopiae already petrified in progress.
- What part of speech is dystopia?
- Dystopia is a noun.
- How do you pronounce dystopia?
- Dystopia is pronounced /dɪsˈtəʊ.pi.ə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of dystopia?
- The plural of dystopia is dystopia.
Words near dystopia in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: dystopia (page history and authors); dystopia (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Simplificationalizer-dystopia.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-dystopia.wav, en-au-dystopia.ogg.
Cite this entry: “dystopia.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dystopia. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.