telenovela

[tel-uh-noh-vel-uh]

noun

1. (in Latin America and Hispanic communities) a television soap opera, usually having a limited number of episodes.

Word History and Origins

Origin of telenovela¹

First recorded in 1960–65; from Spanish, equivalent to tele- tele- ¹ ( def. ) + novela “novel, serial drama”; novel ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

He has also been featured on the telenovela “La Rosa de Guadalupe” and recently in the series “La Guzmán.”

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Some of the Twickenham scripts would have been shredded as too outlandish by a telenovela writers' room.

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“You’re in a narco movie and, then, bam, you’re in a telenovela,” he told Variety, comparing the film and its idiosyncratic song-and-dance sequences to an opera.

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The actor, who also had a guest stint on the CW telenovela “Jane the Virgin,” was pronounced dead Thursday by the Los Angeles County medical examiner.

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His other credit that year was for playing telenovela star Fabian Regalo del Cielo, who courts Gina Rodriguez’s titular character in “Jane the Virgin.”

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