Tolstoy

American  

[tohl-stoi, tol-, tuhl-stoi] / ˈtoʊl stɔɪ, ˈtɒl-, tʌlˈstɔɪ /

Or Tolstoi

noun

1. Leo or Lev Nikolaevich Count, 1828–1910, Russian novelist and social critic.

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Tolstoy British  

/ ˈtɒlstɔɪ, talˈstɔj /

noun

1. Leo , Russian name Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy. 1828–1910, Russian novelist, short-story writer, and philosopher; author of the two monumental novels War and Peace (1865–69) and Anna Karenina (1875–77). Following a spiritual crisis in 1879, he adopted a form of Christianity based on a doctrine of nonresistance to evil

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Other Word Forms

• Tolstoyism
  noun
• Tolstoyist
  noun
• Tolstoian
  adjective
• Tolstoyan
  adjective

Compare meaning

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

• Tolstoy vs. Dostoevsky

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy wrote that there is no happiness in life — only its glimmers.

From MarketWatch ● May 22, 2026

He was enamored with the Russian giants, writing in 1953 that “those fertilized by both Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy, who understand them both equally well,” have “an always formidable nature, with themselves and with others.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026

There were other influences: He was reportedly a voracious reader of Victor Hugo, John Steinbeck and Leo Tolstoy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 28, 2026

Remarkably, Mr. Mian regards Leon Trotsky, not William Shakespeare or Leo Tolstoy, as “the greatest writer . . . of all time.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 22, 2026

Well, I hate to argue with a Bussian genius, but Tolstoy didn’t know Indians.

From "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie