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abyss

1 American  
[uh-bis] / əˈbɪs /

noun

  1. a deep, immeasurable space, gulf, or cavity; vast chasm.

  2. anything that seems to be without end or is impossible to measure, define, or comprehend.

    the abyss of their grief and sorrow.

  3. (in ancient cosmogony)

    1. the primal chaos before Creation.

    2. the infernal regions; hell.

    3. a subterranean ocean.

Abyss. 2 American  

abbreviation

  1. Abyssinia.

  2. Abyssinian.

abyss British  
/ əˈbɪs /

noun

  1. a very deep or unfathomable gorge or chasm

  2. anything that appears to be endless or immeasurably deep, such as time, despair, or shame

  3. hell or the infernal regions conceived of as a bottomless pit

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of abyss

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English abissus, from Late Latin abyssus, from Greek ábyssos “bottomless,” equivalent to a- a- 6 + byssós “bottom of the sea”

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Elsewhere, “Navalny” filmmaker Daniel Roher also tries to look at the bright side in his latest, “The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist,” but only after gazing into the abyss.

From Salon • Mar. 26, 2026

Yes, he has managed to get both because he has a good, long-term job, and he’s slowly crawling out of the abyss.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 18, 2026

The war years were perhaps the darkest in all of human history, but the musicians and singers on these tracks are partying on in the face of the abyss.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 26, 2026

Saturday's Anfield horror show at the hands of Nottingham Forest was a headlong fall into the abyss.

From BBC • Nov. 22, 2025

‘Go back to the abyss prepared for you! Go back! Fall into the nothingness that awaits you and your Master. Go!’

From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.