novelist
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of novelist
Explanation
Someone who writes fictional books is a novelist. If your favorite novelist is Stephen King, it means you're a fan of the horror genre. When someone writes a novel, a book-length, made-up story, they can describe themselves as a novelist. Some novelists also write non-fiction, poetry, or short stories, and you can also simply call them a "writer" or an "author." Novelist was coined to mean "fiction writer" in the 1720s from novel, though the word existed earlier with several different meanings, including "news-carrier" and "innovator."
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.
As I ring the doorbell of Maggie O'Farrell's Edinburgh home, I wonder with some trepidation whether the acclaimed novelist might have become a bit starry after the whirlwind few months she's just had.
From BBC • May 22, 2026
The book beat out a story about a suburban witch by French novelist and playwright Marie NDiaye as well as Brazilian Ana Paula Maia's dystopian read about a brutal prison colony.
From Barron's • May 19, 2026
It’s Ann Patchett—whom a Slack channel full of conference organizers are looking for, because as it turns out, the novelist loves her privacy so much, she doesn’t own a cellphone.
From Slate • May 8, 2026
Silverberg, the facilitator of Becky’s Book Club, is also a novelist and comedian and has worked for Literary Affairs for five years.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 28, 2026
The elderly novelist, tall and stooped, was genuinely glad for news of Haiti.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
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.
