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Dostoevsky

Dostoevsky

7 7.7
A Russian writer known for novels about moral questions and human suffering
  • proper noun
  • /ˌdɒstəˈjɛfskɪ/
: Dostoyevski
  • We fed it Hemingway and Dostoevsky, and it produced short declarative sentences about deep philosophical questions.
  • Fyodor Dostoevsky
  • Dostoevsky's The Idiot
  • Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov

Or like Nietzsche and Dostoevsky, take to literature.

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Examples

  • Thoreau published Walden in 1854 and Dostoevsky published Notes from the Dead House in 1861.

    Academic text (2003)
  • Or one could read the works of great writers such as Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Shakespeare, Balzac, Goethe, Steinbeck, or Murasaki.

    Academic text (1990)
  • Because Dostoevsky actually made this point, you know, long, long ago, where he basically said that what people want is not truth.

  • Perhaps, thought B, it really was a Dostoevsky story he had been thinking of.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • In the novel, Dostoevsky asks whether or not Raskolnikov is a Napoleon, an extraordinary man.

    Academic text (1992)
  • Terrorism became the leading preoccupation of politicians, police chiefs, journalists, and writers from Dostoevsky to Henry James.

    Academic text (1996)
  • Fyodor Dostoevsky said the only thing he truly dreaded was that his life wouldn't be worthy of his suffering.

  • Allen's movie touches on some of the themes familiar to readers of Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov.

    Academic text (1992)
  • Prince Myshkin is the protagonist of Dostoevsky’s “The Idiot”.

  • Fyodor Dostoevsky's novels often delve into the complexities of morality and human psychology.

Synonyms

Fyodor Dostoevski
vsDostoevsky
1 7.9

A Russian writer from the 1800s who wrote novels about people's suffering and thoughts

is used when focus is on moral themes and serious psychological study
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
vsDostoevsky
1 7.5

A Russian writer of novels who wrote about human suffering and deep feelings

is broader, naming moral questions and specific major works instead
Feodor Dostoyevsky
vsDostoevsky
1 8.1

A Russian novelist who wrote about human suffering and people's minds

is more centered on moral questions rather than light humor
Feodor Dostoevski
vsDostoevsky
1 7.6

A Russian novelist who writes about human suffering and people's inner lives

is focused on morality and names specific famous works
1 8.5

A Russian writer known for novels about how people think and suffer

is the brief form that also stresses morality in descriptions

A Russian writer of novels about human suffering, people's minds, and right and wrong

is the shorter, more familiar form used in general references

Surface Forms

Dostoevsky main

Etymology

Dostoevsky is a Russian family name made from a place name, Dostoevo, plus the ending -sky, which means 'from' or 'of a place' in Russian names. So Dostoevsky literally means 'from Dostoevo', a simple clue that this is a Russian surname and helps you remember the famous novelist who wrote about Russian life and people.