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.

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Abyss. ² American  

abbreviation

1. Abyssinia.

2. Abyssinian.

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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

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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

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

Klein attached an array of small pebbles to the painting's surface, making it "evocative of a seabed beneath the blue abyss of an ocean", according to the auction house's description.

From Barron's • Oct. 23, 2025

The children were kneeling on a narrow piece of rock or stone, looking anxiously down at the abyss yawning beneath them.

From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke

Related Words

• chasm
• crevasse
• depth
• void