of or relating to Faust, esp reminiscent of his bargain with the devil
Faustian in American English
(ˈfaustiən)
adjective
1.
of, pertaining to, or characteristic of Faust
a Faustian novel
2.
sacrificing spiritual values for power, knowledge, or material gain
a Faustian pact with the Devil
3.
characterized by spiritual dissatisfaction or torment
4.
possessed with a hunger for knowledge or mastery
Word origin
[1875–80; faust + -ian]This word is first recorded in the period 1875–80. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: cross-fertilization, hat trick, knockabout, overdraft, pressure point-ian is a suffix occurring originally in adjectives borrowed from Latin, formed from nounsdenoting places (Italian) or persons (Flavian), and now productively forming English adjectives by extension of the Latin pattern.Attached to geographical names, it denotes provenance or membership (Washingtonian), the latter sense now extended to membership in social classes, religious denominations,etc. (Episcopalian; pedestrian). Attached to personal names, it has the additional senses “contemporary with” ( Victorian) or “proponent of” (Hegelian; Freudian) the person specified by the noun base. It also occurs in a set of personal nouns,mainly loanwords from French, denoting one who engages in, practices, or works withthe referent of the base noun (comedian; grammarian; theologian)