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• dickens
  dickens

  noun

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

  noun

  Charles John Huffam, Boz, 1812–70, English novelist.

dickens

¹ American  

[dik-inz] / ˈdɪk ɪnz /

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?

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Dickens ² American  

[dik-inz] / ˈdɪk ɪnz /

noun

1. Charles John Huffam, Boz, 1812–70, English novelist.

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Dickens ¹ British  

/ ˈdɪkɪnz /

noun

1. 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)

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dickens ² British  

/ ˈdɪkɪnz /

noun

1. informal a euphemistic word for devil

   what the dickens?

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Other Word Forms

• Dickensian
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of dickens

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

Explanation

Use the noun dickens for emphasis, or to express surprise — for example, you might ask, "What the dickens is this goat doing in the kitchen?" The old-fashioned dickens is a gentle and inoffensive replacement for a profanity. Instead of shocking your grandmother by cursing, you can instead say, "After shoveling all that snow, my back hurts like the dickens." This exclamation has been around since the late 1500s, when it became a substitute for devil, but no one's sure exactly why dickens was used. It may be from the last name Dickens, though it definitely pre-dates the writer Charles Dickens.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dickens Dickens

Boras and Belly became Boris and Natasha, a joke that hurt the Boys In Blue like the dickens.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2023

Her best bet, she decided, was to listen for the telltale squeak of her mailbox lid when the letter carrier stopped by in the afternoon and scream like the dickens.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 17, 2021

The youngster “impressed the dickens out of me,” Eberhart said.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 7, 2021

“He’s a human being. Little mistakes are made, different words are used – and everybody does it. As far as I can see, he’s trying the dickens to do a good job.”

From The Guardian ● May 19, 2017

After all the bragging I had done about what a good monkey catcher I was, I hated like the dickens to go and face him, but I couldn’t just run away.

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls

With more workers taking on caregiving responsibilities, Dickens said she expects they’ll start to look for more formal benefits.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026

Critics say the new reading requirements, which include Dickens and Shakespeare, infringe on religious freedoms and lack diversity.

From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026

Known primarily as a cryptocurrency platform, Galaxy is building a 1.6-gigawatt data-center campus, which it calls Helios, in Dickens County, Texas.

From Barron's ● Jun. 8, 2026

Once-common literary references to Shakespeare or Dickens have now become as obscure in the common culture as so many Mayan inscriptions.

From Salon ● Apr. 19, 2026

I could picture going up in flames copies of Dickens, Stevenson, Zola, Doyle, Shakespeare and many others—donations by white liberals appalled by the state of black education.

From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane