"the dickens" meaning in English

See the dickens in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adverb

Etymology: See dickens. Head templates: {{en-interj}} the dickens
  1. (euphemistic) The devil. Tags: euphemistic Related terms: Dickensian
    Sense id: en-the_dickens-en-adv-KEmUABua Categories (other): English euphemisms
  2. Used as an intensifier.
    Sense id: en-the_dickens-en-adv-MyGozmhg

Preposition

  1. Tags: no-gloss Related terms: damned [adjectival, emphatic, intensifier], completely, Category:English intensifiers
    Sense id: en-the_dickens-en-prep-47DEQpj8 Synonyms: ever, dafuq [Internet], in damnation, in God's name, in heaven, in heavens, in heaven's name, in hell, in tarnation, in the hell, in the world, in thunderation, on God's green earth, on earth, Sam Hill, the Sam Hill, the blazes, the bloody hell, the Christ, the deuce, the devil, the dick, the dickens, the flipping heck, the fuck, the fucking hell, the heck, the hell, the measles [obsolete]

Download JSON data for the dickens meaning in English (3.4kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [],
  "etymology_text": "See dickens.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "the dickens",
      "name": "en-interj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English euphemisms",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "She can go to the dickens for what she said.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The devil."
      ],
      "id": "en-the_dickens-en-adv-KEmUABua",
      "links": [
        [
          "devil",
          "devil"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(euphemistic) The devil."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "word": "Dickensian"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "euphemistic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Why the dickens did he do that?",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "It is cold as the dickens out here!",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1918, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter IV, in The Land That Time Forgot",
          "text": "\"That's it,\" I exclaimed, \"--that's just the taste exactly, though I haven't experienced it since boyhood; but how can water from a flowing stream, taste thus, and what the dickens makes it so warm? It must be at least 70 or 80 Fahrenheit, possibly higher.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used as an intensifier."
      ],
      "id": "en-the_dickens-en-adv-MyGozmhg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "the dickens"
}

{
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep",
  "senses": [
    {
      "id": "en-the_dickens-en-prep-47DEQpj8",
      "related": [
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "tags": [
            "adjectival",
            "emphatic",
            "intensifier"
          ],
          "word": "damned"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "completely"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "Category:English intensifiers"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "ever"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "tags": [
            "Internet"
          ],
          "word": "dafuq"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "in damnation"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "in God's name"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "in heaven"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "in heavens"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "in heaven's name"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "in hell"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "in tarnation"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "in the hell"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "in the world"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "in thunderation"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "on God's green earth"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "on earth"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "Sam Hill"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "the Sam Hill"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "the blazes"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "the bloody hell"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "the Christ"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "the deuce"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "the devil"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "the dick"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "the dickens"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "the flipping heck"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "the fuck"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "the fucking hell"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "the heck"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "the hell"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "tags": [
            "obsolete"
          ],
          "word": "the measles"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "no-gloss"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "source": "thesaurus",
  "word": "the dickens"
}
{
  "etymology_templates": [],
  "etymology_text": "See dickens.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "the dickens",
      "name": "en-interj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "Dickensian"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English euphemisms",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "She can go to the dickens for what she said.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The devil."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "devil",
          "devil"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(euphemistic) The devil."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "euphemistic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Why the dickens did he do that?",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "It is cold as the dickens out here!",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1918, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter IV, in The Land That Time Forgot",
          "text": "\"That's it,\" I exclaimed, \"--that's just the taste exactly, though I haven't experienced it since boyhood; but how can water from a flowing stream, taste thus, and what the dickens makes it so warm? It must be at least 70 or 80 Fahrenheit, possibly higher.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used as an intensifier."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "the dickens"
}

{
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep",
  "senses": [
    {
      "related": [
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "tags": [
            "adjectival",
            "emphatic",
            "intensifier"
          ],
          "word": "damned"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "completely"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "Category:English intensifiers"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "ever"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "tags": [
            "Internet"
          ],
          "word": "dafuq"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "in damnation"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "in God's name"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "in heaven"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "in heavens"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "in heaven's name"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "in hell"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "in tarnation"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "in the hell"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "in the world"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "in thunderation"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "on God's green earth"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "on earth"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "Sam Hill"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "the Sam Hill"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "the blazes"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "the bloody hell"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "the Christ"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "the deuce"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "the devil"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "the dick"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "the dickens"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "the flipping heck"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "the fuck"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "the fucking hell"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "the heck"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "word": "the hell"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:the dickens",
          "tags": [
            "obsolete"
          ],
          "word": "the measles"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "no-gloss"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "source": "thesaurus",
  "word": "the dickens"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-03-12 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-03-01 using wiktextract (68773ab and 5f6ddbb). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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