Dickensian

Definition

Of, pertaining to, or created by the English author Charles Dickens.

Etymology

From Dickens (the surname of Charles Dickens (1812–1870)) + -ian (suffix forming adjectives or nouns meaning ‘belonging to, relating to, or like’).

Example Sentences

• "a Dickensian name"
• "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."
• "As though in expiation of their sires' wealth, schoolboys often had to live in conditions that would have disgraced a Dickensian workhouse."