cyberpunk

noun

cy·​ber·​punk ˈsī-bər-ˌpəŋk 

1

: science fiction dealing with future urban societies dominated by computer technology

2

: an opportunistic computer hacker

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Cyberpunk and Literature

In science fiction circles, "cyberpunk" is a genre that often features countercultural antiheroes trapped in a dehumanizing high-tech future. Its roots extend back to the technical fiction of the 1940s and '50s, but it was years before it matured. The word cyberpunk was coined by writer Bruce Bethke, who wrote a story with that title in 1980. He created the term by combining "cybernetics," the science of replacing human functions with computerized ones, and "punk," the raucous music and nihilistic sensibility that became a youth culture in the 1970s and '80s. Not until the 1984 publication of William Gibson's novel, Neuromancer, however, did "cyberpunk" really take off as a term or a genre.

Synonyms

• cracker
• hacker

Examples of cyberpunk in a Sentence

the bank had to overhaul its online banking system after a cyberpunk broke into the accounts of thousands of customers

Recent Examples on the Web

Akira straddles multiple genres — cyberpunk, action, psychological thriller — but it’s got some of the most horrific sequences anime has ever seen. —Eric Vilas-Boas, Vulture, 28 Sep. 2024

The developer’s highs are undeniable (2017’s Observer delivered pitch-perfect cyberpunk shocks starring none other than tears-in-the-rain cyborg Rutger Hauer); its lows are arguably best left in the past (2021’s The Medium fumbled a story of intergenerational trauma). —Lewis Gordon, Vulture, 9 Oct. 2024

With the third generation, released in 2019, the company clearly wanted a more avant-garde design language to evoke a cyberpunk aesthetic. —Anshel Sag, Forbes, 23 Oct. 2024

What is Off the Grid? Off the Grid is a 150-player cyberpunk battle royale with a 60-hour narrative campaign weaved in. —Issy Van Der Velde, Rolling Stone, 19 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1983, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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