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

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /dɪsˈtəʊ.pi.ə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /dɪsˈtoʊ.pi.ə/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /dɪsˈtɐʉpiə/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊpiə

Noun

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

1. A miserable, dysfunctional state or society that has a very poor standard of living or severe censorship, oppression, etc.

   Synonyms: cacotopia, anti-utopia

   Antonym: utopia

   • 1978 November 19, Martin Amis, “A Stoked‐Up 1976”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →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 flap – back 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^[2]:

     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. (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

• dystopia canthorum
• dystopian
• dystopic

Translations

miserable society

• Bengali: দুঃস্বপ্নলোক sg (dush-shawp-no-lok)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 反烏托邦 / 反乌托邦 (zh) (fǎnwūtuōbāng), 敵托邦 / 敌托邦 (zh) (dítuōbāng)

• Dutch: dystopie (nl) f
• Esperanto: malutopio
• Finnish: dystopia (fi)
• French: dystopie (fr) f, contre-utopie (fr) f
• Galician: distopía f
• German: Dystopie (de) f, Mätopie (de), Anti-Utopie (de) f, Gegenutopie (de) f
• Greek: δυστοπία (el) f (dystopía)
• Hindi: रावणराज्य m (rāvaṇrājya) (literally "reign of Ravana", a society thrown into chaos and ruin)
• Hungarian: disztópia (hu)
• Indonesian: rat petaka
• Italian: distopia (it) f
• Japanese: 暗黒郷 (あんこくきょう, ankokukyō), ディストピア (disutopia)
• Korean: 반이상향 (banisanghyang), 디스토피아 (ko) (diseutopia)
• Maori: ao houmate
• Persian: ویران‌شهر (fa) (virân-šahr)
• Polish: dystopia (pl) f
• Portuguese: distopia (pt) f
• Romanian: distopie (ro) f
• Russian: антиуто́пия (ru) f (antiutópija), дисто́пия (ru) f (distópija), дистопи́я (ru) f (distopíja)
• Spanish: distopía (es) f
• Swedish: dystopi (sv) c
• Turkish: distopya (tr)

medical condition

• Bulgarian: дистопия (distopija)
• Esperanto: malutopio
• Finnish: malpositio
• French: dystopie (fr) f
• German: Dystopie (de) f
• Indonesian: malaposisi
• Italian: distopia (it) f
• Portuguese: distopia (pt) f
• Russian: дистопи́я (ru) f (distopíja)
• Turkish: distopya (tr)

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

Translations to be checked

• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} distopía (es)

See also

• dysphoria
• Orwellian

Anagrams

• atypoids

Finnish

Etymology

Internationalism (see English dystopia).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdystopiɑ/, [ˈdys̠to̞ˌpiɑ̝]
• Rhymes: -iɑ
• Hyphenation^(key): dys‧to‧pia

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 dystopiain rare
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 dystopiaini rare 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 dystopiaisi rare 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 dystopiaimme rare 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 dystopiainne rare 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 dystopiainsa rare 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

• “dystopia”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[3] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from English dystopia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɘsˈtɔ.pja/

• Audio:

  (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

Declension of dystopia

	singular	plural
nominative	dystopia	dystopie
genitive	dystopii	dystopii/dystopij (archaic)
dative	dystopii	dystopiom
accusative	dystopię	dystopie
instrumental	dystopią	dystopiami
locative	dystopii	dystopiach
vocative	dystopio	dystopie

Derived terms

adjective

• dystopiczny

 

Further reading

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