Word of The Day, March 22

Word of the Day for Tuesday March 22, 2005

stygian (also Stygian) \STIJ-ee-uhn\, adjective:
1. Of or pertaining to the river Styx, the principal river of
the underworld in Greek mythology; hence, hellish; infernal.
2. Dark and dismal.

Although accounts vary, that vision, both sublime and
ominous, helped give birth to "Metropolis," a cinematic
landmark set in a teeming, towering city of the future, an
automated, urban sprawl where the wealthy live up in the
heavens and the laborers toil in the steaming, Stygian
depths.
--James Verniere, "Aye, robot," [1]Boston Herald, August
23, 2002

This month NASA has selected two proposals for a mission to
that tiny frozen world 3.5 billion miles away. There, the
Sun is just a small stab of light in the Stygian blackness.
--Ian Brown, "The race is on to reveal Pluto's secrets,"
[2]Independent, June 22, 2001
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