Word.ws English Dictionary

Faustian

Syllables: Faust·i·anUK/ˈfaʊstɪən/US/ˈfaʊstiən/

Faustian adjective: of or pertaining to Faust, especially in the sense of being willing to abandon one's principles or values in order to pursue knowledge, wealth or other benefits.

Adjective

Faustian (comparative more Faustian, superlative most Faustian)

  1. Of or pertaining to Faust, especially in the sense of being willing to abandon one's principles or values in order to pursue knowledge, wealth or other benefits.
    • But along with this growth, there is at the same time developed in his breast, a Faustian conflict between the passion for accumulation, and the desire for enjoyment.1887, Karl Marx, “Conversion of Surplus-Value into Capital”, in Samuel Moore and Edward Aveling, transl., edited by Frederick [i.e., Friedrich] Engels, Capital: A Critical Analysis of Capitalist...
    • Each transaction in the transient corresponds to a pragmatics that transforms the Faustian promise into an advertising slogan.1997, Mihai Nadin, The Civilization of Illiteracy

Forms of Faustian

comparativemore Faustian
superlativemost Faustian

Origin of Faustian

From the surname of the German alchemist and magician Johann Georg Faust (c. 1466 or 1480 – c. 1541) + -ian (suffix forming relational adjectives or nouns). According to medieval legend, Faust made a contract with the Devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. Purported tales about Faust’s life first appeared in print in an anonymously written chapbook, Historia von D. Johann Fausten (1587). The story was then particularly popularized by two plays, Christopher Marlowe’s The Tragicall History of D. Faustus (first published 1604) and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust (published 1808 and 1832).

Words formed from Faustian

Phrases with Faustian

Questions about Faustian

What does Faustian mean?
Faustian means of or pertaining to Faust, especially in the sense of being willing to abandon one's principles or values in order to pursue knowledge, wealth or other benefits.
What part of speech is Faustian?
Faustian is an adjective.
How do you pronounce Faustian?
Faustian is pronounced /ˈfaʊstɪən/ (UK).

Words near Faustian in the dictionary

  1. faussebraies
  2. faussebraye
  3. faussebrayes
  4. Fausset
  5. Faust
  6. Faustian
  7. Faustian bargain
  8. Faustian bargains
  9. Faustian deal
  10. Faustian dilemma
  11. Faustianly

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Faustian (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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