What this suffix does
The suffix -ian (and its variant -ean) turns proper nouns of people, places or periods into adjectives meaning "relating to", "in the style of" or "characteristic of" that person, place or period.
From "Orwell" comes "Orwellian" (relating to Orwell's ideas about totalitarianism and surveillance); from "Dickens" comes "Dickensian" (characteristic of Dickens' novels: Victorian social misery, vivid characters); from "Shakespeare" comes "Shakespearean".
Spanish: -iano or -esco: Orwellian → orwelliano, Dickensian → dickensiano.
Literary, political and cultural uses
Literary:
Shakespearean = in Shakespeare's style (tragic grandeur, elevated language)
Dickensian = characteristic of Dickens (Victorian social misery, vivid grotesque characters)
Dostoyevskian = of Dostoevsky (existential anguish, tormented characters)
Political and ideological:
Orwellian = surveillance state, doublethink, totalitarianism as in 1984
Machiavellian = manipulative, end-justifies-means scheming (from Machiavelli's The Prince)
Freudian = relating to Freud's psychoanalytical theory
Nietzschean = relating to Nietzsche's philosophy
Periods and styles:
Victorian = relating to Queen Victoria's reign (1837-1901): rigid morality, industrialisation
Elizabethan = relating to Elizabeth I's reign: theatre, exploration
Edwardian = 1901-1910
Epicurean = relating to Epicurus: pleasure and moderation
Orwellian and Machiavellian: the most used
"Orwellian" is one of the most powerful words in modern political English:
"Orwellian surveillance state" = a state of total monitoring.
"Orwellian doublespeak" = language that means the opposite of what it says.
"Machiavellian" describes someone who uses manipulation and deception to gain power, from Machiavelli's The Prince:
"His Machiavellian scheming outwitted everyone."
A Freudian slip — an involuntary verbal mistake Freud believed revealed unconscious thoughts — is a very common everyday expression: "Was that a Freudian slip?"