dys·to·pi·a

(dĭs-tō′pē-ə)

1. An imaginary place or state in which the condition of life is extremely bad, as from deprivation, oppression, or terror.

2. A work describing such a place or state: "dystopias such as Brave New World" (Times Literary Supplement).

[dys- + (u)topia.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

dystopia

(dɪsˈtəʊpɪə)

(Literary & Literary Critical Terms) an imaginary place where everything is as bad as it can be

[C19 (coined by John Stuart Mill): from dys- + Utopia]

dysˈtopian adj, n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

dys•to•pi•a

(dɪsˈtoʊ pi ə)

n., pl. -pi•as.

an imaginary society in which social or technological trends have culminated in a greatly diminished quality of life or degradation of values. Compare Utopia.

[1865–70; dys- + (U)topia]

dys•to′pi•an, adj.

dystopia

an imaginary place where the conditions and quality of life are unpleasant. The opposite of Utopia.

dystopia

n → Dystopie f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

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References in periodicals archive

Malila of the Scorch is a thrilling dystopia whose characters fight to defend everything that matters most.

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Mustaine, 57, and his bandmates were in the studio working on a follow-up to their 2016 album "Dystopia," the singer said, adding he could not "wait for everyone to hear" it.

Megadeth's Dave Mustaine diagnosed with throat cancer; band cancels 2019 shows

Protesters comparing military rule to the fictional dystopia of Orwell's 1984 were arrested after reading the book in public places.

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We aspire to utopia but we are getting dystopia. Fire-fighters are supposed to put out fires, but they are starting fires.

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Unlike the titans of British dystopia, Orwell's 2984 (1949) and Huxley's Brave New World (1932), whose regimes seem impervious to the gravity of revolt and therefore cannot fall, What Not charts the stuttering beginnings and immolatory ends of an incipient dystopia overthrown by a nation at the end of its tether.

Brain Trust

But if SXSW has swung recently from tech triumphalism to digital dystopia, then this year was the one where humans and technology reached a sort of uneasy accommodation.

Ben Bilboul

But going by current popular literature and cinema, it is dystopia that awaits us.

Utopia and dystopia

In this installment of Meg Elison's bold and genderqueer dystopia, survival cannot be achieved through masks or illusions; it is instead dependent on Flora's variety of self-assurance.

The Book of Flora

FAST forward to the year 2071 to a Pakistan free from terrorism, crime ...and human emotions, just a hellish dystopia where you have to smile to survive.

Welcome to Shehr e Tabassum

Last week NFU Cymru accused nature groups of peddling a "fake dystopia" about the impact of farming on wildlife.

Payments row re-opens old rift

Noun	1.	dystopia - state in which the conditions of life are extremely bad as from deprivation or oppression or terror state - the way something is with respect to its main attributes; "the current state of knowledge"; "his state of health"; "in a weak financial state" utopia - ideally perfect state; especially in its social and political and moral aspects
	2.	dystopia - a work of fiction describing an imaginary place where life is extremely bad because of deprivation or oppression or terror fiction - a literary work based on the imagination and not necessarily on fact