cyberspace

American  

[sahy-ber-speys] / ˈsaɪ bərˌspeɪs /

noun

1. the realm of electronic communication.

2. virtual reality.

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cyberspace British  

/ ˈsaɪbəˌspeɪs /

noun

1. all of the data stored in a large computer or network represented as a three-dimensional model through which a virtual-reality user can move

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cyberspace Scientific  

/ sī′bər-spās′ /

1. The electronic medium of computer networks, in which online communication takes place.

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cyberspace Cultural  

1. The space in which computer transactions occur, particularly transactions between different computers. We say that images and text on the Internet exist in cyberspace, for example. The term is also often used in conjunction with virtual reality, designating the imaginary place where virtual objects exist. For example, if a computer produces a picture of a building that allows the architect to “walk” through and see what a design would look like, the building is said to exist in cyberspace.

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Etymology

Origin of cyberspace

First recorded in 1980–85; cyber(netics) ( def. ) + space ; coined by American-Canadian sci-fi author William Gibson (born 1948)

Example Sentences

I may be a relative nobody in cyberspace, but I usually get a few hundred views in the first hours after posting.

From Slate • Jan. 27, 2026

The North Koreans have not only made their thievery more efficient, but have also refined their money-laundering techniques to the point that the stolen booty disappears into the dark reaches of cyberspace within days.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 28, 2025

Nuclear weapons may seem like yesterday’s news in the world of cyberspace and artificial intelligence, but there is nothing like brute force to bring people back to reality.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 12, 2025

But outside of the finance world, the success of Claude’s pop-up shows that there’s a growing dissatisfaction with AI’s role in generating low-effort content in cyberspace.

From MarketWatch • Oct. 11, 2025

Increasingly, it’s a difficult transition between freewheeling cyberspace and the oppressive, rule-bound Old Fartism that dominates American education.

From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz

Related Words

• computer network
• information technology
• web