What is Dystopia?

A dystopia (alternatively, cacotopia, kakotopia or anti-utopia) is a fictional society that is the antithesis of utopia. A dystopia is usually characterized by an authoritarian or totalitarian form of government, or some other kind of oppressive social control. The first use of the word has been credited to John Stuart Mill in 1868, whose knowledge of Greek would suggest that he meant it as a place where things are bad, rather than simply the opposite of Utopia. The Greek prefix “dys” or “dis” signifies “ill”, “bad” or “abnormal”, whereas “ou” means “not” (Utopia means “nowhere”, and is a pun on “Eutopia” meaning “happy place” – the prefix “eu” means “well”). So “dystopia” and “utopia” are not exact opposites in the sense that “dysphoria” and “euphoria” are opposites. The term “dystopia” itself is a combination of the Greek prefix “dys” and “topia” (from Greek, “topos” = “place”). “Dystopia,” therefore, literally means “bad place.” Sometimes referred to as a “Negative Utopia.” (via Wikipedia)