Word of the Day: abyss

The word abyss has appeared in 120 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on March 10 in the Opinion essay “Why ‘Everything Everywhere’ Will Probably Win Best Picture” by Ross Douthat:

And so maybe it will be fitting if the Academy — which already illustrated the multiverse’s forking paths the year it mistakenly announced first “La La Land” and then “Moonlight” as its best-picture winner — rewards an artistic embodiment of this vision, rather than the heavenward progress of Maverick or the unfinished purgatory of Lydia Tár.

Those are journey movies, traditional narrative arcs with high stakes attached to every personal choice, every artistic gesture and fighter-jet maneuver. “Everything Everywhere” is a movie for a society much more unsure about the fundamental meaning of its stories, the real significance of human choices — and stuck hoping that a feeling held in defiance of one’s reason, a vibe of hope and love, will be enough to keep us from the abyss.

Daily Word Challenge

Can you correctly use the word abyss in a sentence?

Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using today’s Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the word’s definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.

Then, read some of the other sentences students have submitted and use the “Recommend” button to vote for two original sentences that stand out to you.

If you want a better idea of how abyss can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com.

Students ages 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, can comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff.

The Word of the Day is provided by Vocabulary.com. Learn more and see usage examples across a range of subjects in the Vocabulary.com Dictionary. See every Word of the Day in this column.