Synonyms of novella

novella

noun

nō-ˈve-lə 

as in tale

a work with imaginary characters and events that is shorter and usually less complex than a novel

pressed for time, many English teachers have their students read the one novella among the novelist's works

Synonyms & Similar Words

• tale
• story
• narrative
• novelette
• yarn
• short story
• history
• joke
• fable
• romance
• anecdote
• myth
• parable
• legend
• record
• fairy tale
• annals
• bedtime story
• report
• exemplum
• chronicle
• folktale
• account

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of novella

The Norwegian writer Vigdis Hjorth creates a whole world in very few pages in this novella-length work in which even the pacing of the narrative itself does so much of the storytelling. — Literary Hub, 11 June 2026

Hemingway, who championed self-mastery, gave the old fisherman in his novella exactly one consolation out there alone in the Gulf Stream, the thought of the great DiMaggio, who did everything perfectly even with the bone spur in his heel. — Anthony Scaramucci, Fortune, 28 June 2026

These invasion fictions took a range of forms, from short stories and pamphlets to novellas and full-length novels, and proliferated especially in the late-Victorian and Edwardian period leading up to World War I, which brought the subgenre’s brief flourishing to an end. — Ivan Kreilkamp, JSTOR Daily, 10 June 2026

The acclaimed Project Hail Mary is Amazon’s sci-fi spectacular, The Sheep Detectives is a mystery-comedy for kids and American author Don Winslow’s novella Crime 101 is its detective drama with Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo and Halle Berry in the lead roles. — Caroline Reid, Forbes.com, 19 June 2026