Stygian
Americanadjective
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of or relating to the river Styx or to Hades.
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dark or gloomy.
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infernal; hellish.
adjective
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of or relating to the river Styx
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literary
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dark, gloomy, or hellish
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completely inviolable, as a vow sworn by the river Styx
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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.
Roger Allam’s pungently played Roy Jenkins is heard pontificating on “the Stygian gloom” of Brussels, though his Continental discontent doesn’t keep him from knocking back the Château Lafite.
From New York Times • Mar. 24, 2017
Is the name a nod to the local passion for the Stygian side of the beer world?
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 22, 2016
For the next 90 minutes, we traveled the Stygian depths separately, our frantic text messages to each other getting through only when our trains briefly surfaced over the East River.
From Washington Post • May 8, 2016
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
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.
