dickens

¹

[ dik-inz ]

noun

1. Usually the dickens. devil; deuce (often used in exclamations and as a mild oath):

   The dickens you say! What the dickens does he want?

Dickens

²

[ dik-inz ]

noun

1. Charles John Huf·fam, [huhf, -, uh, m], Boz, 1812–70, English novelist.

dickens

¹

/ ˈdɪkɪnz /

noun

1. See devil
   informal.
   a euphemistic word for devil

   what the dickens?

Dickens

²

/ ˈdɪkɪnz /

noun

1. DickensCharles (John Huffam)18121870MEnglishWRITING: novelist Charles ( John Huffam ), pen name Boz. 1812–70, English novelist, famous for the humour and sympathy of his characterization and his criticism of social injustice. His major works include The Pickwick Papers (1837), Oliver Twist (1839), Nicholas Nickleby (1839), Old Curiosity Shop (1840–41), Martin Chuzzlewit (1844), David Copperfield (1850), Bleak House (1853), Little Dorrit (1857), and Great Expectations (1861)

Other Words From

• Dick·en·si·an [dih-, ken, -zee-, uh, n], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of dickens¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; apparently a fanciful use of Dicken, form of Dick, a proper name

Word History and Origins

Origin of dickens¹

C16: from the name Dickens

Example Sentences

A clever nod to Dickens, the novel is more than just a female “Christmas Carol,” says Smith.

From Washington Blade

While Moore, 60, was long viewed as a front-runner in multiple polls, Dickens, 47, began to gain momentum in the final days of a race in which many voters were undecided until close to the very end.

From Washington Post

In 1843, when Dickens published A Christmas Carol, Christmas was often treated as just another day, with few people even getting time off work — that’s why Bob Cratchit asks if he can have the day off.

From Vox

Mead’s performance of the Dickens play has been presented at the Dickens Festival in England and at arts centers, schools, churches, and private events around the world.

From Washington Blade

Dickens grew up in a London where child labor was ruthlessly exploited.

From The Daily Beast

The book is broken into what Dickens calls staves, not chapters.

From The Daily Beast

Dickens was a master of heart-wrenching pathos because he felt every pain as he wrote.

From The Daily Beast

Flaubert, for instance, hated the works of Dickens: “What defective composition!”

From The Daily Beast

In his opulent maroon suit, Dickens flaunts his fame and fortune with so little subtlety he makes Kanye West appear modest.

From The Daily Beast

I study your language in your Dickens, in your Thackeray; at last I attain proficiency.

From Project Gutenberg

I never now see our young people, or their elders either, affected by an author as we were then by the power of Dickens.

From Project Gutenberg

She had expected to cry herself to sleep; instead she read Dickens with Mr. Hammerton until the new year was upon them.

From Project Gutenberg

One will not fully appreciate Chigwell and its inn unless he has read Dickens' story.

From Project Gutenberg

The bar-room, no doubt, is still much the same as on the stormy night which Dickens chose for the opening of his story.

From Project Gutenberg