Cacotopia
/ˌkækəˈtoʊpiə/noun
A bad or unpleasant place or society; the opposite of a utopia.
Did you know?Cacotopia is built from Greek roots, and the first element is the same one behind words like cacophony and cacography—an ancient root for “bad” that still haunts modern English.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Gk
kakos
“bad, evil, ugly”
Ancient Greek
Gk
topos
“place”
19th Century
Eng
cacotopia
“a bad or ill-arranged place or society”
Modern English
Eng
cacotopia
“a dystopian or unpleasant place or condition”
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