as in ocean
an immeasurable depth or space
looking down at the dark ocean from the ship's rail, the cruise passenger felt as though he was staring into an abyss
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Recent Examples of abyss
In the pitch-black abyss, photosynthesis is impossible.
—
Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 23 Dec. 2025
Jean-Pierre is an artifact of an age that looks recent on paper but feels prehistoric in practice—the age of pantsuits, the word ’empowerment,’ the musical Hamilton, the cheap therapeutic entreaties to ‘work on yourself’ and ‘lean in’ to various corporate abysses.
—Literary Hub, 17 Dec. 2025
People from across Europe make use of it for a variety of personal reasons, unaware of the historical abyss along its edges, for this road follows a line that was first drawn almost 90 years ago, at a time of great unrest.
—Leo Barraclough, Variety, 17 Dec. 2025
But compared to the embarrassing depths of September and October, the Dolphins have lifted this season from an abyss to something a bit interesting, at least.
—Miami Herald, 7 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for abyss
Recent Examples of Synonyms for abyss
Noun
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Remain out of the water to avoid hazardous surf and NEVER turn your back on the ocean.—
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The iceberg sat in the shallow water of the Weddell Sea in the Southern Ocean for more than 30 years before breaking free in 2020 and into an ocean whirlpool for several months.—
Noun
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There’s a gaping chasm, however, between being a seller and actually closing a deal.—
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Spider also faces off with his villainous biological father, Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang), who jumps into a fiery chasm and meets an uncertain fate.—
Noun
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Worse, slanting political lines so that one party or the other is guaranteed victory only widens the gulf that has helped turn Washington’s into its current slough of dysfunction.—
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There were 26 seconds between the two moments, a blink but also a gulf.—
Noun
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Large expanses of seats were unused during the third-bottom home side’s 2-1 defeat to Forest, who are in 17th place, on Tuesday.—
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Trudging across six lanes of highway, and expanses of parking lot, to reach Soldier Field never had many fans, but there is zero romance in this new spot.—
Noun
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Attempting that deep of a kick with a soggy field seemed like a dubious decision to begin with.—
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So if your holiday spending didn’t quite dig you into this deep of a hole, debt relief programs likely aren’t the best fit for you.—
Cite this Entry
“Abyss.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abyss. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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