novelize

American

[nov-uh-lahyz] / ˈnɒv əˌlaɪz /

especially British, novelise

verb (used with object)

novelized, novelizing

to put into the form of a novel.

He tried to novelize one of Shakespeare's plays.
to make fictional; fictionalize.

novelize British

/ ˈnɒvəˌlaɪz /

verb

to convert (a true story, film, etc) into a novel

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

novelization noun
novelizer noun

Etymology

Origin of novelize

First recorded in 1625–35; novel ¹ + -ize

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.

“And we’re in this beautiful golden age of television where we can novelize a TV show.”

From Los Angeles Times • May 17, 2020

Lynn Potter knew she had enough for a gripping read and had long planned to novelize the results by working off the letters.

From Washington Times • Oct. 23, 2016

Wallace doesn’t simply set a scene and novelize his characters into facile life; rather, he makes an almost metaphysical commitment to see reality through their eyes.

From New York Times • Feb. 1, 2016

Reporter Miller had aimed to novelize the waterfront characters.

From Time Magazine Archive

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023