dystopian

adjective

dys·to·pi·an (ˌ)dis-ˈtō-pē-ən

variants or less commonly dystopic

(ˌ)dis-ˈtō-pik

-ˈtä-

Synonyms of dystopian next

: 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

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The book is the first in a new dystopian series by the writer, 26, forthcoming from Margaret K. McElderry Books. Coldwire, per a synopsis shared with PEOPLE, is set in a futuristic society run by virtual reality. —

Carly Tagen-Dye, People.com, 10 Feb. 2025 China’s Underground Historians and Their Battle for the Future by Ian Johnson Sigrid Nunez A Hero for Cro-MAGA Times Charles Baxter’s new novel follows the moral travails of a rock-steady insurance salesman in a dystopian Ohio backwater. —

James Gleick, The New York Review of Books, 7 Feb. 2025 Alliance Media Partners will launch international sales on Todd Wiseman Jr.’s dystopian thriller The School Duel at the upcoming European Film Market. —

Zac Ntim, Deadline, 6 Feb. 2025 Even some Hollywood figures on the left caution against seeing everything through a dystopian lens. —

Steven Zeitchik, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Feb. 2025 See all Example Sentences for dystopian