Cyberpunk

//ˈsaɪ.bə.pʌŋk// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A subgenre of science fiction which focuses on computer or information technology and virtual reality juxtaposed with a degree of breakdown or radical change in the social order. uncountable

    "But by 1987, cyberpunk had become a cliche. Other writers had turned the form into formula: implant wetware (biological computer chips), government by multinational corporations, street-wise, leather-jacketed, amphetamine-loving protagonists and decayed orbital colonies."

  2. 2
    a genre of fast-paced science fiction involving oppressive futuristic computerized societies wordnet
  3. 3
    A cyberpunk character, a hacker punk, a high-tech low life. countable

    "The film The Matrix redefined what a cyberpunk looked like."

  4. 4
    a writer of science fiction set in a lawless subculture of an oppressive society dominated by computer technology wordnet
  5. 5
    A writer of cyberpunk fiction. countable

    "[…] cyberpunks like William Gibson, Lucious Sheperd^([sic]), Bruce Sterling […]"

Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    a programmer who breaks into computer systems in order to steal or change or destroy information as a form of cyber-terrorism wordnet
  2. 7
    A musical genre related to the punk movement that makes use of electronic sounds such as synthesizers. uncountable

    "A more technologically elaborate current of microtonal music can be found at M.I.T and Berklee College of Music, where R. Boulanger works in exotic equal temperaments and non-octave scales (E₆₀ and the 13th root of 3, i.e. the Bohlen-Pierce scale) using the CSOUND acoustic compiler, the Mathews radio drum and various MIDI synthesizers; nearby, E. Mullen performs cyberpunk music in E₁₉ and the 13th root of 3."

Synonyms

All synonyms
cyber-terroristhacker

Example

More examples

"This game's setting has been described as cyberpunk, but I disagree."

Etymology

From cyber- + -punk, coined by American writer and software developer Bruce Bethke as the title of a 1983 short story, and later popularized by Gardner Dozois.

Related phrases

information technologyscience fictionsocial ordervirtual reality

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.