Word
dystopia
UK/dɪstˈəʊpiə/
Definition
n. a society that is ruled by a powerful government and is full of suffering, oppression, and fear. It is a common theme in science fiction stories.
n. a society characterized by human misery, oppression, and suffering, typically under the control of a totalitarian regime. Often used in the context of speculative fiction to explore the consequences of extreme political or technological developments.
Examples
“The movie is set in a dark dystopia where the government controls everything.”
“Many modern novels use a dystopia as a setting to warn readers about the dangers of losing personal freedoms.”
“The author's depiction of a surveillance state serves as a cautionary dystopia, illustrating how the erosion of privacy can lead to the total subjugation of the individual by the state.”
Examples
simple
“The movie is set in a dark dystopia where the government controls everything.”
contextual
“Many modern novels use a dystopia as a setting to warn readers about the dangers of losing personal freedoms.”
complex
“The author's depiction of a surveillance state serves as a cautionary dystopia, illustrating how the erosion of privacy can lead to the total subjugation of the individual by the state.”
Real-World Examples
“But everything begins with emotion.”
‘Utopia is impossible, but if you don’t believe in the ability to attain something better, you will inevitably end up in a dystopia.” “I’d forgotten until she reminded me here that the slide into dystopia in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale starts with climate change.” Etymology
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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Word family
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/dystopia