Fyodor Dostoevski
1
7.9
- proper noun
- /fiˈɔdər ˌdɔstəˈɛvski/
- I first read Fyodor Dostoevski's 'The Brothers Karamazov' in college and was deeply moved.
Examples
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Many consider Fyodor Dostoevski one of the greatest writers in world literature.
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Scholars still debate the philosophical themes found throughout Fyodor Dostoevski's novels.
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I love Fyodor Dostoevski!
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Many consider Fyodor Dostoevski a master of psychological fiction.
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I first read Fyodor Dostoevski's 'The Brothers Karamazov' in college and was deeply moved.
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Many consider Fyodor Dostoevski one of the greatest writers in world literature.
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Many consider Fyodor Dostoevski a master of psychological fiction.
Synonyms
7
7.7
A Russian writer known for novels about moral questions and human suffering
1
7.5
A Russian writer of novels who wrote about human suffering and deep feelings
1
8.1
A Russian novelist who wrote about human suffering and people's minds
1
7.6
A Russian novelist who writes about human suffering and people's inner lives
1
8.5
A Russian writer known for novels about how people think and suffer
A Russian writer of novels about human suffering, people's minds, and right and wrong
Surface Forms
Morphology
Fyodor + Dostoevski
This is a personal name (proper noun) whose meaning is not built compositionally from its parts; 'Fyodor' and 'Dostoevski' are arbitrary labels with no lexical content indicating 'Russian novelist' or the biographical information. A B1 learner who only knows the constituent name-forms would not be able to infer the referent or biographical meaning without prior exposure, so the expression is opaque.
Etymology
Fyodor Dostoevski's name may come from older words: Fyodor is the Russian form of a Greek name meaning 'gift of God', and Dostoevski probably means 'from Dostoevo', a place the family came from. Today the name Fyodor Dostoevski stands for a writer of serious, often dark stories about human suffering and the human mind, so hearing his name brings those themes to mind.