abyss

[ uh-bis ]

See synonyms for abyss on Thesaurus.com

noun

a deep, immeasurable space, gulf, or cavity; vast chasm.
anything that seems to be without end or is impossible to measure, define, or comprehend: the abyss of their grief and sorrow.

(in ancient cosmogony)
- the primal chaos before Creation.
- the infernal regions; hell.
- a subterranean ocean.

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”

Words Nearby abyss

Other definitions for Abyss. (2 of 2)

Abyss.

abbreviation

Abyssinia.
Abyssinian.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use abyss in a sentence

Hollywood, too, became enraptured by the exotic abyss of Stanleyville.
‘Argo’ in the Congo: The Ghosts of the Stanleyville Hostage Crisis | Nina Strochlic | November 23, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
But, Ali warns all that can change quickly if Anbar continues to crumble, “right now, we are looking into the abyss.”
Iraqis Swear: Baghdad Airport is Safe From ISIS | Susannah George | October 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
And my beloved Zimbabwe has sunk from a promising beacon into an abyss of greed and dictatorship.
How I Got Addicted to Africa (and Wrote a Thriller About It) | Todd Moss | September 9, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
But when patients open their jaws, he totters on the abyss and gets no steadying hand from God.
Joshua Ferris’s New Novel Chronicles an Existential Dentist in Despair | Tom LeClair | May 6, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
And when I made the abyss, which had a giant wave scene in it, those stopped.
James Cameron on How to Find Flight MH370, Climate Change, Leonardo DiCaprio, and More | Marlow Stern | April 12, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST

He sees no longer the brink of the abyss beside which the path of progress picks its painful way.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice | Stephen Leacock
In the abyss of her heart, too deep at first for recognition, the girl loved him, and had loved him from the very beginning.
Three More John Silence Stories | Algernon Blackwood
The path leading to it is over a small ledge of rock, skirted on each side by a yawning abyss.
A Woman's Journey Round the World | Ida Pfeiffer
The poor, tearful desire lays a pale hand on reason's lips and gazes wistfully into the mysterious abyss of the Great Silence.
God and my Neighbour | Robert Blatchford
She points to her pinions stretched over the abyss of primeval fire, her eyes blinded by its awful glare, and remains silent.
Gospel Philosophy | J. H. Ward

British Dictionary definitions for abyss

abyss

/ (əˈbɪs) /

noun

a very deep or unfathomable gorge or chasm
anything that appears to be endless or immeasurably deep, such as time, despair, or shame

hell or the infernal regions conceived of as a bottomless pit

Origin of abyss

C16: via Late Latin from Greek abussos bottomless (as in the phrase abussos limnē bottomless lake), from a- 1 + bussos depth

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

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