Dostoevsky

American  

[dos-tuh-yef-skee, duhs-, duh-stuh-yef-skyee] / ˌdɒs təˈjɛf ski, ˌdʌs-, dʌ stʌˈjɛf skji /

Or Dostoyevsky,

noun

1. Fyodor Mikhailovich 1821–81, Russian novelist.

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Dostoevsky British  

/ dəstaˈjɛfskij, ˌdɒstɔɪˈɛfskɪ /

noun

1. Fyodor Mikhailovich (ˈfjɔdər miˈxajləvitʃ). 1821–81, Russian novelist, the psychological perception of whose works has greatly influenced the subsequent development of the novel. His best-known works are Crime and Punishment (1866), The Idiot (1868), The Possessed (1871), and The Brothers Karamazov (1879–80)

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Compare meaning

How does dostoevsky compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• Tolstoy vs. Dostoevsky

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Dostoevsky

Dostoevsky follows the narrator over four nights and a morning during which he ceases living in his imagination and embraces reality for the first time.

From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026

There’s documented marginalia and scribblings that suggest a serious reader, and anecdotes about her reciting poems at parties, reading Proust on set, and expounding on Whitman, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 25, 2026

One of the most popular is called “Pursuing the Good Life”; this semester, readings included the Bible, Plato, Rousseau, Nietzsche and Dostoevsky, along with poetry by Sylvia Plath and music by Beethoven.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 21, 2026

It’s a treasure trove of literary titans from Franz Kafka to Fyodor Dostoevsky.

From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2024

He said that everything there was to know about life was in The Brothers Karamazov, by Feodor Dostoevsky.

From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut