dystopian

adjective

dys·​to·​pi·​an (ˌ)dis-ˈtō-pē-ən 

variants or less commonly dystopic

(ˌ)dis-ˈtō-pik  -ˈtä- 

: of, relating to, or being an imagined world or society in which people lead dehumanized, fearful lives : relating to or characteristic of a dystopia

A twisted romantic haunted by dystopian visions, Gibson borrows the language of science fiction and crafts doomed love stories with high-tech trappings.

—Maitland McDonagh

Dystopian visions are in a sense mythopoeic: depicting a creation myth in a future world of darkness and silence.

—Sarah Lefanu

Biotechnology is a force for good, but without adherence to the ideal of universal human equality, it opens the door to the soft tyranny of Gattaca and, ultimately the dystopian nightmare of Brave New World.

—Wesley J. Smith

Like many advances in science and technology, the dystopian implications of data mining have been described best by science-fiction writers.

—John Markoff

… Orwellian has become a word itself: an adjective denoting a dystopic world where language is cut adrift from meaning.

—Harvey A. Daniels

Letter by letter, we read of a society that seems to move from one dystopic nightmare to another …

—Simon Winchester

Examples of dystopian in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The alternative is a future too abhorrent for even the most dystopian imaginations at WIRED to contemplate. —Katie Drummond, WIRED, 4 Nov. 2024

Squid Game: Season 2 | Official Teaser | Netflix The new installment of the dystopian Korean drama – once again directed, written and produced by Hwang Dong-hyuk – will begin three years after the end of the previous game. —Amarachi Orie, CNN, 1 Nov. 2024

The film is set in a dystopian, technologically advanced society. —Conor Murray, Forbes, 21 Oct. 2024

There's the dystopian Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt alien-slayer Edge of Tomorrow, as well as the Alan J. Pakula classic The Devil's Own, starring Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt, and The Matrix Resurrections. —Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 2 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

dystopian from dystopia + -an entry 2; dystopic from dystopia + -ic entry 1

First Known Use

1962, in the meaning defined above