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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

Partch and others have been trying like the dickens to save it.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 21, 2020

This would not be too bad, except we have very high ceilings and it echoes like the dickens.

From Slate ● Jan. 10, 2019

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

From Washington Post ● Dec. 5, 2016

Prior to coming to sabotage school, Dasch was always "hungry like the dickens," and he made sure to carefully divvy up his bread ration and carry it with him.

From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple

It would take another 50 years, however, before foreign authors like Dickens enjoyed similar protections under U.S. copyright law.

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

He’s brought with him to the hospital books on drawing perspective and a few novels by Charles Dickens, including The Mystery of Edwin Drood, which Dickens had left unfinished when he died twelve years earlier.

From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman