novella
Americannoun
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novellas,
plural
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novelle
plural
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a tale or short story of the type contained in the Decameron of Boccaccio.
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a fictional prose narrative that is longer and more complex than a short story; a short novel.
noun
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(formerly) a short narrative tale, esp a popular story having a moral or satirical point, such as those in Boccaccio's Decameron
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a short novel; novelette
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of novella
From Italian, dating back to 1900–05; see origin at novel 1
Compare meaning
How does novella compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Short novels are called novellas. If you don't want to write a novel, but have more to say than a short story, you could try writing a novella. You've surely heard of plays, poems, short stories, and novels. But novellas? They're not as well known, but pretty simple: nothing more than short novels. Sometimes novellas are called novelettes, but whatever you call them, you'll probably read a few in English class. Sometimes it's easier to squeeze in a novella than a whole novel, so maybe you could start with Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" or Franz Kafka's "Metamorphosis."
Vocabulary lists containing novella
Brand Spankin' New: Words with Neo- and Nov-
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Literary Genres - Introductory
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Reading: Literature - Fiction - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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Greta Lee and Edmund Donovan star alongside the actor in this adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler’s novella about a group of intellectuals fascinated with a once-celebrated writer who now works at a post office.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
Based on his 1997 children’s novella, this economical piece of autofiction chronicles a life-changing cross-country flight in 1962 from Travolta’s childhood home in New Jersey to the sunny streets of Los Angeles.
From Salon ● Jun. 2, 2026
The first English-language edition of Trotzig’s 1964 novella “Queen”—one of the author’s greatest achievements—may help to fill that gap.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026
Inspired by a novella by Soviet physicist Georgy Demidov, who chronicled his own harrowing experiences in the gulag from the late 1930s until the early 1950s, “Two Prosecutors” unfolds with ominous efficiency.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2026
As you must know, it would be unusual for us to publish a complete novella by an unknown writer, or for that matter a well-established one.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
Martin’s Dunk and Egg novellas also questions whether those who inherit rulership deserve that duty, reflecting their cravenness in shining gleam of its heroes’ virtue.
From Salon ● Feb. 23, 2026
Another spin-off, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, adapted from a series of novellas written by Martin, launched last month.
From BBC ● Feb. 18, 2026
“The Body” was published in 1982 in “Different Seasons,” a collection of four King novellas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 2, 2026
Based on the “Tales of Dunk and Egg,” novellas by author George R.R.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 16, 2026
According to www.nobel.se/literature/laureates/1910/press.html, Andrea Delfin, written in 1859, is part of a series of novellas, which Paul Heyse had published between 1855 and 1862 in four volumes.
From Andrea Delfin by Michael Pullen
Included in the novel's 496-page sweep are three brilliant novelle: Ensign Woodbridge's encounter with the hypocritical missionaries, the story of the Irish monk and the satanic trader, Parker, and Seaman O'Connell on a berserk rampage.
From Time Magazine Archive
Most of his novelle read like summaries of novels,––setting forth an abstract synopsis of the action rather than a concrete representation of it.
From A Manual of the Art of Fiction by Clayton Meeker Hamilton
Even in Spanish or Italian literature it would not be easy to find an exact parallel; for the novelas and novelle are in general only circumstantial anecdotes.
From The Pictures; The Betrothing Novels by Connop Thirlwall
I went one day with a friend of mine to a pique-nique party at the Cascino, where a laughable adventure occurred perfectly in the stile of the novelle of Boccacio.
From After Waterloo: Reminiscences of European Travel 1815-1819 by Major W. E Frye
Boccaccio is pretty xxvii evenly divided between the two, and the remainder is made up of classic tales and anecdotes and a few novelle of Ser Giovanni and Straparola.
From The Palace of Pleasure, Volume 1 by William Painter
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
