novella

play

noun no·vel·la \ nō-ˈve-lə \

Definition of novella

plural novellas or novelle play \nō-ˈve-lē\

1 plural novelle :a story with a compact and pointed plot

2 plural novellas :a work of fiction intermediate in length and complexity between a short story and a novel

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Examples of novella in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples of novella from the Web

The drama is based on the novella The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle, who will co-exec produce.

— lesley goldberg, The Hollywood Reporter, "Rainn Wilson, Greg Nicotero, Chris Hardwick Developing Scripted Dramas for AMC," 29 July 2017
Official canonical sources include a set of six novellas written by Martin.

— kim bhasin, Bloomberg.com, "Winter Comes to ‘Game of Thrones.’ But for Spinoffs, It’s Springtime," 17 July 2017
This original staging, conceived by Mamai's executive artistic director Bernadette Clemens, plays as a more gentle, sorrowful meditation on events than the original novella, bled of the rage simmering on those pages.

— andrea simakis, cleveland.com, "'The Testament of Mary' at Mamai forgoes anger to present the mother of Jesus as a woman torn by grief (review)," 15 July 2017
This mind-bending novella about a writer losing his marbles contains images that startle and linger.

— john williams, New York Times, "A Brief but Potent Scare in ‘You Should Have Left’," 3 July 2017
Unfortunately, the novella never made it to the big screen and Jodelle never revived her blood-thirsty character.

— maria tallarico, Cosmopolitan, "The Supporting Cast of Twilight: Where Are They Now?!," 28 June 2017
At times, the novella feels like a choir of philosophers—father, mother, Buddhist, lover—all singing a different song in the same room.

— ben shattuck, New Republic, "Maartje Wortel Has Mastered the Art of the Aphorism," 28 June 2017
Written in 1980, the original novella follows eight scientists and a telepath who have set out on a mission to contact alien life in the far reaches of the solar system.

— matt miller, Esquire, "George R.R. Martin's New TV Show Will Come As a Shock to Game of Thrones Fans," 23 June 2017
Fortunately, Johnson wrote so much more: two collections of plays, three books of poetry, two short story collections, nine novels, a novella, and a book of reportage.

— Longreads, "The Tears of Denis Johnson," 17 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'novella.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of novella

Italian, from feminine of novello new, from Latin novellus

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1677

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novella Synonyms

Synonyms

narrative, novelette, story, short story, tale, yarn

Related Words

bedtime story; exemplum, fable, parable; anecdote, joke; fairy tale, folktale, legend, myth, romance; account, annals, chronicle, history, record, report

Other Literature Terms

apophasis, bathos, bildungsroman, bowdlerize, caesura, coda, doggerel, euphemism, poesy, prosody

NOVELLA Defined for English Language Learners

novella

play

noun

Definition of novella for English Language Learners

: a short novel : a story that is longer than a short story but shorter than a novel

Learn More about novella

See words that rhyme with novella Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for novella Britannica English: Translation of novella for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about novella

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novella

Definition of novella

Examples of novella in a Sentence

Recent Examples of novella from the Web

Origin and Etymology of novella

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NOVELLA Defined for English Language Learners

novella

Definition of novella for English Language Learners

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Definition of novella for English Language Learners

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