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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

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

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 7, 2021

“I thought, ‘What in the dickens is that?’ ” he said in his video account.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 5, 2016

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Farmer and former Nebraska senator Norm Wallman: ‘Anything to get the ball rolling . You can plant it early in the spring, and it’s tough as the dickens.’

From The Guardian ● Jun. 12, 2016

She took a drink of her soda, and I took a drink of mine, pretending to study the dickens out of that map.

From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry

In the 19th century, as the result of lobbying by authors such as Charles Dickens, the British Parliament enacted the Copyright Act of 1842.

From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026

His wannabe Robocops launch indiscriminate raids, operate detention facilities under conditions out of a Dickens novel and regularly don face masks to hide their identities.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026

The 63-year-old model-train enthusiast told Dickens, who stopped for a chat, he was there for his best friend, Roy, who died several years ago.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

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

The novelist Charles Dickens felt Malthus depicted poor people as less than human; in novels such as Oliver Twist, he sought to remedy that, making poor people well-rounded main characters.

From "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman