Meanings
comparative more Dickensian · superlative most Dickensian
- Similar to Dickens' writing style, especially in commenting on society, or in using emotion, humour, or rich descriptions.
a Dickensian name
Synonyms: Dickenesque, Dickensesque, Dickensish, Dickens-like, Dickensy
- Reminiscent of the environments and situations most commonly portrayed in Dickens' writings, such as poverty, social injustice, and other aspects of Victorian England.
As though in expiation of their sires' wealth, schoolboys often had to live in conditions that would have disgraced a Dickensian workhouse.
1988, Cecil D. Eby, “Playing the Game”, in The Road to Armageddon: The Martial Spirit in English Popular Literature 1870–1914, Durham, N.C.; London: Duke University Press, →ISBN, page 894 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.
1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in Railway Magazine, page 704As earlier implied, the planet is threatened on three major fronts: […] (3) by a Dickensian world of wretched excess and wretched despair.
1993, William Sloane Coffin, “A Vision of the Future”, in A Passion for the Possible: A Message to U.S. Churches, Louisville, Ky.: Westminster/John Knox Press, →ISBN, page 10Down in the subway under the roundabout the looming social ordeal started to weigh down on me, […] By the time I pressed a huge and over-polished brass bell I'd devolved into a shifty-eyed, cinder-cheeked Dickensian urchin, and when the door opened I half expected to see Mrs Bridges throw up her fat, floury hands and scream for the cook's boy.
2001 February, Tim Moore, “Prologue”, in Frost on My Moustache: The Arctic Exploits of a Lord and a Loafer, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Griffin, St. Martin’s Press, →ISBN, page 2Leaning against piracy fits in with China's desire to cast off its image of a country where exploited workers toil for a pittance in Dickensian factories that turn the air and water black with the pollution they discharge.
2008 September 15, Alan Wheatley, “China getting higher marks for tackling piracy”, in Reuters, archived from the original on 23 Apr 2010Synonyms: Dickenesque, Dickensesque, Dickensish, Dickens-like, Dickensy
plural Dickensians
- A person who admires or studies the works of Charles Dickens.
Synonyms: Dickensite
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveSimilar to Dickens' writing style, especially in commenting on society, or in using emotion, humour, or rich descriptions.
adjectiveReminiscent of the environments and situations most commonly portrayed in Dickens' writings, such as poverty, social injustice, and other aspects of Victorian England.
nounA person who admires or studies the works of Charles Dickens.
Origin
From Dickens (the surname of Charles Dickens (1812–1870)) + -ian (suffix forming adjectives or nouns meaning ‘belonging to, relating to, or like’).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan dickensià, dickensià
- dickensiàof, pertaining to, or created by the English author Charles Dickens
- dickensiàreminiscent of the environments and situations most commonly portrayed in Dickens’ writings, such as poverty, social injustice, and other aspects of Victorian England
- dickensiàsimilar to Dickens’ writing style
Czech dickensovský, dickensovský
- dickensovskýof, pertaining to, or created by the English author Charles Dickens
- dickensovskýreminiscent of the environments and situations most commonly portrayed in Dickens’ writings, such as poverty, social injustice, and other aspects of Victorian England
Estonian dikenslik
- dikenslikreminiscent of the environments and situations most commonly portrayed in Dickens’ writings, such as poverty, social injustice, and other aspects of Victorian England
Finnish dickensiläinen, dickensiläinen
- dickensiläinenof, pertaining to, or created by the English author Charles Dickens
- dickensiläinenreminiscent of the environments and situations most commonly portrayed in Dickens’ writings, such as poverty, social injustice, and other aspects of Victorian England
French dickensien, dickensien
- dickensienof, pertaining to, or created by the English author Charles Dickens
- dickensienreminiscent of the environments and situations most commonly portrayed in Dickens’ writings, such as poverty, social injustice, and other aspects of Victorian England
German Dickensisch, dickensisch
- Dickensischof, pertaining to, or created by the English author Charles Dickens
- dickensischreminiscent of the environments and situations most commonly portrayed in Dickens’ writings, such as poverty, social injustice, and other aspects of Victorian England
Greek ντικενσιανό
- ντικενσιανό (ntikensianó)reminiscent of the environments and situations most commonly portrayed in Dickens’ writings, such as poverty, social injustice, and other aspects of Victorian England
Spanish dickensiano
- dickensianoreminiscent of the environments and situations most commonly portrayed in Dickens’ writings, such as poverty, social injustice, and other aspects of Victorian England
Cite this entry
Dickensian. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Dickensian
“Dickensian.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Dickensian. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Dickensian,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Dickensian.
Source: Dickensian on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.