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.
See Examples For:
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
Andy Serkis directs an animated, awkwardly contemporary adaptation of the anti-Stalinist novella featuring the voices of Seth Rogen, Glenn Close, Woody Harrelson and more.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
One thing to know: This Sundance Film Festival hit about the life and sorrows of a logger in early 20th-century America is based on a novella by Denis Johnson.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026
Director and co-writer Clint Bentley filmed the ending of Denis Johnson’s 2011 novella, in which Joel Edgerton’s solitary Robert visits a carnival, encountering a strange wolf-boy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 17, 2026
Not since her week in Primrose Hill, typing out the novella, and what a foolish excitement that seemed now.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
These three novellas were written in the 1920s, after the fall of the empire, and in their baroque translation by John Batki they cast back upon bygone times with wistfulness, charm and winking humor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026
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
The moment in question could be a big deal for some fans of Martin’s novellas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 22, 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
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
You read the songs that I make, sweet lady," he said, "and now will you listen while I tell you a story, a novelle?
From Sir Mortimer by Mary Johnston
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 Materials and Methods of Fiction With an Introduction by Brander Matthews by Clayton Meeker Hamilton
Both these incidents are the common property of Italian novelle and our own stage.
From The Works of Aphra Behn, Volume I by Montague Summers
Another step in the realistic direction would have transformed all these religious myths into novelle; and then a new beauty, the beauty of the Decameron and Novellino, would have been shed upon them.
From Renaissance in Italy: Italian Literature Part 1 (of 2) by John Addington Symonds
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.
