dystopia

English

WOTD – 3 February 2012

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.

Pronunciation

Noun

dystopia (countable and uncountable, plural dystopia or dystopias or dystopiae)

  1. A vision of a future that is a corrupted (usually beyond recognition) utopian society.
    Synonyms: cacotopia, anti-utopia
    Antonym: utopia
    • 1978 November 19, Martin Amis, “A Stoked‐Up 1976”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
      As novelist, he knows, too, that when he sees the future, it will not work—he will automatically be creating a “dystopia” (no one creates utopias any more: even the utopias of the past look like dystopias to us).
    • 1997, Jeff Yang, Dina Gan, Terry Hong, the staff of A. Magazine, Eastern Standard Time: A Guide to Asian Influence on American Culture: from Astro Boy to Zen Buddhism, Mariner Books, →ISBN, page 57:
      2. FEAR OF TECHNOLOGY/THE BOMB/THE FUTURE—Progress run amok, either in the form of cybernetic creatures that turn against their masters, or future dystopiae in which society is controlled by technology.
    • 1997, Jacqueline Foertsch, “The Bomb Next Door: Four Postwar Alterapocalyptics”, in Genre, page 346:
      Erich Fromm, who has commented on 1984 and other dystopiae in postmodern literature discovers a mechanized dystopia in the text of existence itself in the ’50s and ’60s—a “technological nightmare” that had turned people into zombies and made the darkest alternative to “boring aliveness” seem attractive.
    • 1999, Mick Farren, Jim Morrison’s Adventures in the Afterlife, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, →ISBN, front flapback flap:
      [Aimee Semple] McPherson’s sexier half becomes the object of Jim [Morrison]’s obsession, and as the two struggle to find each other in this disordered land, their wild, careening chase through a dozen dystopiae recalls imagined worlds as diverse as Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange and Terry Gilliam’s movie Brazil.
    • 2003, Judith Fitzgerald, Adagios: Iphigenia’s Song, Oberon Press, →ISBN, page 50:
      Recollections tattooed with stiletto reasons and a sorrowful slant of light admitting of dystopiae already petrified in progress.
    • 2003, Luciano Pellicani, Revolutionary Apocalypse: Ideological Roots of Terrorism, Westport, Conn., London: Praeger, →ISBN, page 233:
      Its function is to legitimate that particular form of moral tribalism based on the “pedagogy of hatred” that [Evgeny] Zamiatin and [George] Orwell described so brilliantly in their dystopiae.
    • 2014 December 11, Megan Willett-Wei, “The 16 Most Disappointing Places To Visit On Earth”, in Business Insider:
      But you get to the beach via monorail and you get to the sand and look out to the ocean and all you see is oil tankers and factories spewing smoke on the horizon. It was like some sort of futuristic dystopia.
    • 2017, Kim Newman, Kim Newman’s Video Dungeon: The Collected Reviews, Titan Books, →ISBN:
      Like many dystopiae, it ends up with the lead characters wandering into a sylvan wilderness (an English wood) away from the nasty city.
  2. A miserable, dysfunctional state or society that has a very poor standard of living.
  3. (pathology) Anatomical tissue that is not found in its usual place.
    Synonyms: ectopia, ectopy, heterotopia, malposition
    The patient suffers from adrenal dystopia.
    • 1899, Joshua M. Van Cott, Jr., “Pathology of the Fœtus—Anomalies of the Fœtus”, in Charles Jewett, editor, The Practice of Obstetrics by American Authors, New York, N.Y., Philadelphia, Pa.: Lea Brothers & Co., part V (Pathology of Pregnancy), page 325:
      2. Dystopiæ of separate organs.
    • 1930 January 16, The New England Journal of Medicine, volume 202, number 3, page 126, column 1:
      Davis, J. E. (J. Urol., Vol. xx-155, 1928), writing on the surgical pathology of malformation in the kidneys and ureters, classifies these anomalies into three groups: (a) anomalies of position (dystopiae).
    • 1968, Walter Ritter, Kraniofaziale Dysplasien und Störungen der Zahnentwicklung:
      While harelips were mostly associated with dystopiae of the incisor teeth, median jaw fusion was accompanied by characteristic dental fusion.
    • 1979, British Journal of Urology, page xlv:
      Surgical treatment of congenital testicular dystopiae. (B. Kleinteich et al.) Zentralbl. Chir. 1979, 104, 736.

Derived terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

See also

Anagrams

Finnish

Etymology

Internationalism (see English dystopia).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈdystopiɑ/, [ˈdys̠to̞ˌpiɑ̝]
  • Rhymes: -iɑ
  • Syllabification(key): dys‧to‧pi‧a

Noun

dystopia

  1. dystopia

Declension

Inflection of dystopia (Kotus type 12/kulkija, no gradation)
nominative dystopia dystopiat
genitive dystopian dystopioiden
dystopioitten
partitive dystopiaa dystopioita
illative dystopiaan dystopioihin
singular plural
nominative dystopia dystopiat
accusative nom. dystopia dystopiat
gen. dystopian
genitive dystopian dystopioiden
dystopioitten
dystopiainrare
partitive dystopiaa dystopioita
inessive dystopiassa dystopioissa
elative dystopiasta dystopioista
illative dystopiaan dystopioihin
adessive dystopialla dystopioilla
ablative dystopialta dystopioilta
allative dystopialle dystopioille
essive dystopiana dystopioina
translative dystopiaksi dystopioiksi
abessive dystopiatta dystopioitta
instructive dystopioin
comitative See the possessive forms below.
Possessive forms of dystopia (Kotus type 12/kulkija, no gradation)
first-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative dystopiani dystopiani
accusative nom. dystopiani dystopiani
gen. dystopiani
genitive dystopiani dystopioideni
dystopioitteni
dystopiainirare
partitive dystopiaani dystopioitani
inessive dystopiassani dystopioissani
elative dystopiastani dystopioistani
illative dystopiaani dystopioihini
adessive dystopiallani dystopioillani
ablative dystopialtani dystopioiltani
allative dystopialleni dystopioilleni
essive dystopianani dystopioinani
translative dystopiakseni dystopioikseni
abessive dystopiattani dystopioittani
instructive
comitative dystopioineni
second-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative dystopiasi dystopiasi
accusative nom. dystopiasi dystopiasi
gen. dystopiasi
genitive dystopiasi dystopioidesi
dystopioittesi
dystopiaisirare
partitive dystopiaasi dystopioitasi
inessive dystopiassasi dystopioissasi
elative dystopiastasi dystopioistasi
illative dystopiaasi dystopioihisi
adessive dystopiallasi dystopioillasi
ablative dystopialtasi dystopioiltasi
allative dystopiallesi dystopioillesi
essive dystopianasi dystopioinasi
translative dystopiaksesi dystopioiksesi
abessive dystopiattasi dystopioittasi
instructive
comitative dystopioinesi
first-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative dystopiamme dystopiamme
accusative nom. dystopiamme dystopiamme
gen. dystopiamme
genitive dystopiamme dystopioidemme
dystopioittemme
dystopiaimmerare
partitive dystopiaamme dystopioitamme
inessive dystopiassamme dystopioissamme
elative dystopiastamme dystopioistamme
illative dystopiaamme dystopioihimme
adessive dystopiallamme dystopioillamme
ablative dystopialtamme dystopioiltamme
allative dystopiallemme dystopioillemme
essive dystopianamme dystopioinamme
translative dystopiaksemme dystopioiksemme
abessive dystopiattamme dystopioittamme
instructive
comitative dystopioinemme
second-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative dystopianne dystopianne
accusative nom. dystopianne dystopianne
gen. dystopianne
genitive dystopianne dystopioidenne
dystopioittenne
dystopiainnerare
partitive dystopiaanne dystopioitanne
inessive dystopiassanne dystopioissanne
elative dystopiastanne dystopioistanne
illative dystopiaanne dystopioihinne
adessive dystopiallanne dystopioillanne
ablative dystopialtanne dystopioiltanne
allative dystopiallenne dystopioillenne
essive dystopiananne dystopioinanne
translative dystopiaksenne dystopioiksenne
abessive dystopiattanne dystopioittanne
instructive
comitative dystopioinenne
third-person possessor
singular plural
nominative dystopiansa dystopiansa
accusative nom. dystopiansa dystopiansa
gen. dystopiansa
genitive dystopiansa dystopioidensa
dystopioittensa
dystopiainsarare
partitive dystopiaansa dystopioitaan
dystopioitansa
inessive dystopiassaan
dystopiassansa
dystopioissaan
dystopioissansa
elative dystopiastaan
dystopiastansa
dystopioistaan
dystopioistansa
illative dystopiaansa dystopioihinsa
adessive dystopiallaan
dystopiallansa
dystopioillaan
dystopioillansa
ablative dystopialtaan
dystopialtansa
dystopioiltaan
dystopioiltansa
allative dystopialleen
dystopiallensa
dystopioilleen
dystopioillensa
essive dystopianaan
dystopianansa
dystopioinaan
dystopioinansa
translative dystopiakseen
dystopiaksensa
dystopioikseen
dystopioiksensa
abessive dystopiattaan
dystopiattansa
dystopioittaan
dystopioittansa
instructive
comitative dystopioineen
dystopioinensa

Further reading

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from English dystopia.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /dɨsˈtɔ.pja/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -ɔpja
  • Syllabification: dys‧to‧pia

Noun

dystopia f

  1. (film, literature) dystopia (vision of a future that is a corrupted (usually beyond recognition) utopian society)

Declension

Derived terms

adjective
  • dystopiczny

Further reading

  • dystopia in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • dystopia in Polish dictionaries at PWN
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