Dickensian
adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A person who admires or studies the works of Charles Dickens.
- 1 Of, pertaining to, or created by the English author Charles Dickens.
- 2 Similar to Dickens' writing style, especially in commenting on society, or in using emotion, humour, or rich descriptions.
"a Dickensian name"
- 3 Reminiscent of the environments and situations most commonly portrayed in Dickens' writings, such as poverty, social injustice, and other aspects of Victorian England.
"At last the first glimpse from a bridge of an open-top red bus, and a noticeable darkening of the atmosphere from the smoke of London: then the increasingly dingy stations with double-barrel names, set amid what has always been to me the outstanding feature of the "Premier Line" approach to London—the positively marvellous display of crazy chimney-pots on the grey inner suburban houses. As many as twenty, all of varying style, standing together like ranks of jagged teeth, and providing a Dickensian back-cloth which no other route can boast."
- 1 of or like the novels of Charles Dickens (especially with regard to poor social and economic conditions) wordnet
Example
More examples"At last the first glimpse from a bridge of an open-top red bus, and a noticeable darkening of the atmosphere from the smoke of London: then the increasingly dingy stations with double-barrel names, set amid what has always been to me the outstanding feature of the "Premier Line" approach to London—the positively marvellous display of crazy chimney-pots on the grey inner suburban houses. As many as twenty, all of varying style, standing together like ranks of jagged teeth, and providing a Dickensian back-cloth which no other route can boast."
Etymology
From Dickens (the surname of Charles Dickens (1812–1870)) + -ian (suffix forming adjectives or nouns meaning ‘belonging to, relating to, or like’).
More for "dickensian"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.