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Stygian

American  
[stij-ee-uhn] / ˈstɪdʒ i ən /
Also stygian

adjective

  1. of or relating to the river Styx or to Hades.

  2. dark or gloomy.

  3. infernal; hellish.


Stygian British  
/ ˈstɪdʒɪən /

adjective

  1. of or relating to the river Styx

  2. literary

    1. dark, gloomy, or hellish

    2. completely inviolable, as a vow sworn by the river Styx

"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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Etymology

Origin of Stygian

1560–70; < Latin Stygi ( us ) < Greek Stýgios ( Styg-, stem of Stýx Styx + -ios adj. suffix) + -an

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.

A subtle reference to Serra’s father, a pipe fitter at a shipyard near San Francisco, it also puts us in mind of Charon’s ferry, shuttling souls across Stygian waters.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 31, 2025

He parked next to a dimly lit footbridge, which wobbled with our passage above a Stygian chasm.

From Washington Post • Apr. 22, 2022

The actors are shot in separate gloomy interiors, and from stationary positions, so as to appear in Stygian Zoom-like frames as if at a virtual meeting of hobbits.

From New York Times • May 7, 2021

The same is true of the second episode, “Fifteen Million Merits,” a Stygian tale of an immersively “gamified” society in which young lovers see a televised singing competition as their only possibility for escape.

From The New Yorker • Dec. 29, 2014

A sword appeared in the giant’s hand—a Stygian iron blade much like Nico’s, except five times the size.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

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