adj, noun ·3 syllables ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   An inhabitant of Styx (a moon of Pluto).

   "Stygians – natives of Styx"

Adjective

1. 1
   Alternative form of Stygian (“of or relating to the river Styx”). alt-of, alternative
2. 2
   Of, by or relating to the river Styx in Greek mythology. Greek
3. 3
   Infernal or hellish. figuratively, literary
4. 4
   Of, by or relating to the Plutonian moon named after Styx.
5. 5
   Dark and gloomy. figuratively, literary

   "The things which the Stygian darkness hid from my objective eye […]"

Show 2 more definitions

6. 6
   Alternative form of stygian: dark and gloomy, or infernal and hellish. alt-of, alternative

   "Within all was black as the tomb. [...] Feeling before him upon the floor with the butt of his spear, Tarzan entered the Stygian gloom."

7. 7
   Having a luminosity below 0%.

Adjective

1. 1
   dark and dismal as of the rivers Acheron and Styx in Hades wordnet
2. 2
   hellish wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

acheronianinfernalacheronianacheronticacheronticblack

Antonyms

All antonyms

alightclear

Example

More examples

"Heavenly ire / ne'er sent a pest more loathsome; ne'er were seen / worse plagues to issue from the Stygian mire."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Latin stygius, from Ancient Greek Στύγιος (Stúgios, “relating to Styx”), from Στύξ (Stúx, “Styx, chief river of underworld”).

Etymology 2

See stygian.

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