Dickensian
Britishadjective
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of Charles Dickens or his works
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squalid and poverty-stricken
working conditions were truly Dickensian
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characterized by jollity and conviviality
a Dickensian scene round the Christmas tree
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grotesquely comic, as some of the characters of Dickens
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“London Falling” has a Dickensian texture, but nothing is fictional.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026
Children's Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza says it is a welcome focus on improving the quality of temporary accommodation, where many children live in "shocking Dickensian conditions".
From BBC • Dec. 4, 2025
But a society’s values are, in large part, reflected by how it treats its most vulnerable members — and America in the 21st century is growing increasingly Dickensian.
From Salon • Sep. 16, 2025
They say some of them do not even make minimum wage, their work conditions are Dickensian and that they are overburdened by complaints from litigation-happy patients.
From New York Times • Mar. 4, 2024
The Reverend Dameron, a Dickensian personage, an unctuous and jolly brimstone-and-damnation orator, was minister of the Grandview Baptist Church in Kansas City, Kansas, the church the Andrews family attended regularly.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
