novella

[noh-vel-uh]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR novella ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural no·vel·las, no·vel·le [noh-vel-ee, -vel-ey] /noʊˈvɛl i, -ˈvɛl eɪ/.

a tale or short story of the type contained in the Decameron of Boccaccio.

a fictional prose narrative that is longer and more complex than a short story; a short novel.

Nearby words

Origin of novella

From Italian, dating back to 1900–05; see origin at novel¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for novella

And in some ways [the novella at the end of the collection] “Jack and the Mad Dog” just sort of set me free.
Tony Earley's Imaginary Friends|Mindy Farabee|September 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I see my novella as being part of that—as part of the social discourse.
The Surprisingly Good Flight 370 Novel: Author Scott Maka Defends His Controversial Book|Tim Teeman|June 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I tried to make that clear in the author's note at the start of the novella, but it seems that I was not emphatic enough.
The Surprisingly Good Flight 370 Novel: Author Scott Maka Defends His Controversial Book|Tim Teeman|June 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The surprise is that the 127-page novella is far from terrible and creepy.
The Surprisingly Good Flight 370 Novel: Author Scott Maka Defends His Controversial Book|Tim Teeman|June 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Three years later, I returned to Beijing and wrote my first novella—Stick Out Your Tongue, inspired by my travels through Tibet.
Ma Jian: How I Write|Noah Charney|June 12, 2013|DAILY BEAST
And yet in comparison with its importance in this respect the novella and the romance of chivalry are quite insignificant.
John Lyly|John Dover Wilson
With Crabbe the novella became as distinctly the short story as it has become in the hands of Miss Wilkins.
Literature and Life|William Dean Howells
The Novella is crowned every year at Assumption, and her red robe is changed at the same time; it is the custom.
Very Woman|Remy de Gourmont
These circumstances determined the length and ruled the mechanism of the Novella.
Renaissance in Italy: Italian Literature|John Addington Symonds
The name is derived from Calandro, a simpleton of Calandrino's type; and the interest of the plot is that of a Novella.
Renaissance in Italy: Italian Literature|John Addington Symonds

British Dictionary definitions for novella

novella

noun plural -las or -le (-leɪ)

(formerly) a short narrative tale, esp a popular story having a moral or satirical point, such as those in Boccaccio's Decameron

a short novel; novelette

Word Origin for novella

C20: from Italian; see novel 1

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

Word Origin and History for novella

novella

1902; see novel (n.).

novella

noun, plural no·vel·las, no·vel·le [noh-vel-ee, -vel-ey] /noʊˈvɛl i, -ˈvɛl eɪ/.

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Origin of novella

Examples from the Web for novella

novella

noun plural -las or -le (-leɪ)

Word Origin for novella

novella