Resembling a dungeon in appearance, atmosphere, or conditions; dark, oppressive, and prison-like.
From 'dungeon' (Old French donjon) + '-like' (Old English gelīc). The compound became common in the 19th century to describe unpleasantly dark or oppressive spaces.
Writers love 'dungeonlike' to evoke psychological oppression—a basement apartment, a oppressive office, or a gloomy forest can all be 'dungeonlike' without actual stone walls, showing how one medieval word can describe modern anxieties about confinement.
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