Bildungsroman

[bil-doongz-roh-mahn, beel-doongks-raw-mahn]

noun

plural

Bildungsromans ,

plural

Bildungsromane .

1. a type of novel concerned with the education, development, and maturing of a young protagonist.

Bildungsroman

/ ˈbɪldʊŋsromaːn /

noun

1. a novel concerned with a person's formative years and development

Word History and Origins

Origin of Bildungsroman¹

1905–10; < German, equivalent to Bildung formation + -s noun ending in compounds + Roman novel

Word History and Origins

Origin of Bildungsroman¹

literally: education novel

Example Sentences

Zevin’s entrancing story of a gamer boy and a gamer girl building a video game empire from scratch is a romantic bildungsroman.

From Los Angeles Times

One of them is the bildungsroman.

From Los Angeles Times

It dawns on me that the real reason I’d taken the upper limit off my Hinge settings and agreed to this date is that I thought I might find someone like my former professor, whose class on the bildungsroman was my main motivation for applying to grad school.

From Los Angeles Times

He previously published “Some Hell,” a gay bildungsroman that was a finalist for the 2018 Lambda Literary Award, and nonfiction with 2021’s “Image Control.”

From Los Angeles Times

Molly learns a passel of thinpgs in this surrealist, carnivalesque bildungsroman.

From Los Angeles Times