novella
Americannoun
plural
novellas, novelle-
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.
noun
-
(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
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.
His most spectacular paintings are frescoes, physically part of the walls of the Strozzi Chapel in the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence and the Carafa Chapel in Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in Rome.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 21, 2026
“MRNA vaccines do not cause the virus to mutate — they do that all on their own,” writes Steven Novella, a neurologist and veteran misinformation debunker.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 12, 2025
In the Science Fiction Novella “Nightfall”, Isaac Asimov postulates how a civilization would face a solar eclipse in a multiple star solar system that only experienced night once every two thousand years.
From Salon • Apr. 11, 2024
To see the machine that makes it, an invention of the Novella family, you need special clearance and, media access be damned, I don’t have it.
From New York Times • Aug. 13, 2019
Masaccio’s Holy Trinity, 1425, in Santa Maria Novella in Florence, is the earliest rigorous perspective painting to survive, and is evidently dependent on Brunelleschi’s studies.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
