From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdickensdick‧ens /ˈdɪkənz/ noun spoken old-fashioned 1 → what/who/where the dickens ...?2 → as pretty/smart etc as the dickens
Examples from the Corpus
dickens• The first is: How the dickens are you getting them in?• Indeed - what the dickens was the matter with her? - she didn't want to be sensible.• What the dickens, so to speak, was he to do?Origin dickens (1500-1600) Perhaps from the name Dickens 