roman à clef

American  

[raw-mah na kle] / rɔ mɑ na ˈklɛ /

noun

French.

romans à clef plural

1. a novel that represents historical events and characters under the guise of fiction.

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roman à clef British  

/ rɔmɑ̃ a kle /

noun

1. a novel in which real people are depicted under fictitious names

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roman à clef Cultural  

1. A novel in which actual people and places are disguised as fictional characters. Roman à clef is French for “novel with a key.”

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• romans à clef
  plural

Etymology

Origin of roman à clef

First recorded in 1880–85; literally “novel with a key,” the key being the connection between the fictional and nonfictional elements of the novel

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

roman à clef

After all, her next book is a roman à clef about Gala, and writing about a woman who might be in dire straits would be exploitative.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2025

The story quoted a few skeptics—among them the writer Harry Monaghan, who’d written a well-received roman à clef five years prior, and who had a regular column in the Post.

From Slate ● May 27, 2023

It's an adorable kind of roman à clef.

From Salon ● Nov. 28, 2022

While the story shares a few tantalizing similarities with the author’s life, it’s no roman à clef.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 20, 2022

Had Madame d'Epinay merely intended to write a roman à clef?

From Books and Characters French and English by Strachey, Giles Lytton