novel1 nounnovel2 adjective
novelnov‧el1 /ˈnɒvəl $ ˈnɑː-/ ●●● W3 noun [countable] 
WORD ORIGINnovel1
Origin:
1500-1600 Italian novella; ➔ NOVELLAEXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- a novel by John Irving
- Butler has also written several historical novels under the pen-name of Jenny Melville.
- Johnston's nudes look like cover art for romantic novels.
- Keller's debut novel is about a Korean woman who was sold into prostitution during World War II.
- The movie is based on a novel by Anne Tyler.
- The new Sidney Shelton novel is to be adapted for film later in the year.
- This is the study where Hemingway wrote the legendary novels 'Death in the Afternoon' and 'For Whom the Bell Tolls'.
- As a life, it had the ingredients of a blockbuster romantic novel or epic costume film.
- For much of its course, the later novel takes all this for granted.
- I started to plan a novel.
- My experience was limited largely to news and news feature writing until recently, when I ventured to write a novel.
- Nathalie Sarraute's novels could be claimed to display autonomy and reflexivity, despite her preoccupation with such a mimetic project.
- No such novel ever got written.
- The novel contains a number of important historical accidents which reveal the heavy hand of the author.
- The new novel usually starts from where one is, seldom from a vision of a lost world or future utopia.
THESAURUStypes of book
noun [countable] a book about imaginary people and events: · The film is based on Nick Hornby’s best-selling novel.· a historical novel
noun [uncountable] books that describe imaginary people and events: · She reads a lot of romantic fiction.
noun [uncountable] novels and plays that are considered to be important works of art: · I’m studying American literature at university.
noun [uncountable] books that describe real people and events: · Men tend to prefer non-fiction.
noun [uncountable] books about imaginary events in the future or space travel
noun [countable] a book such as a dictionary or encyclopedia, which you look at to find information
noun [countable] a book about a particular subject that you use in a classroom
British English British English noun [countable] a book that you have to study as part of your course
noun [countable] a book telling visitors about a city or country
noun [countable] a book for children with many pictures in it
noun [countable] a book that has a hard stiff cover
noun [countable] a book that has a paper cover
noun [countable] a book about a real person’s life, written by another person
noun [countable] a book that someone has written about their own life
British English (also cookbook American English) noun [countable] a book that tells you how to cook different meals
Longman Language Activatora book about imaginary people and events a book about people and events that the writer has imagined: · The new Sidney Shelton novel is to be adapted for film later in the year.· This is the study where Hemingway wrote the legendary novels 'Death in the Afternoon' and 'For Whom the Bell Tolls'.novel by: · The movie is based on a novel by Anne Tyler.historical novel (=about people and events in the past): · Butler has also written several historical novels under the pen-name of Jenny Melville.romantic novel (=about love): · Johnston's nudes look like cover art for romantic novels.first/debut novel (=the first novel that someone writes): · Keller's debut novel is about a Korean woman who was sold into prostitution during World War II.
books about imaginary people and events: · His first novel won a prize for modern fiction.· I'm taking a class in Victorian fiction.romantic fiction (=about love): · This small band of women writers dominated the romantic fiction market for a number of years.historical fiction (=about people and events in the past): · Anthony's first books were historical fiction.crime/detective fiction: · Why is Miami such a ripe setting for crime fiction?· Chandler remains the greatest exponent of detective fiction.
books, plays, and poems, especially famous and serious ones that people think are important: · the Nobel Prize for Literature· She is a professor of language and literature at Arizona State University.· Mitterrand's oratory and writings displayed a wide grasp of history, philosophy, religion and literature.French/Hispanic/Hebrew etc literature: · I teach Japanese literature.· She's studying European literature at the University of Illinois.
also sci-fi informal stories about things that happen in the future or in other parts of the universe: · Science fiction is often wrongly regarded as a 'lesser' form of literature.· Joanne says she is not a fan of science fiction, and has never read her husband's book.· Such developments sound like science fiction, but they're not.
informal a book about an imaginary murder case, in which you do not find out who did the murder until the end: · If you enjoy a whodunnit, you'll lap up Janet Laurence's "Hotel Morgue".· an Agatha Christie whodunnit
an exciting story, for example about a crime or war, in which surprising events happen suddenly and you never know what will happen next: · They discovered a mutual love of mysteries and thrillers.political/psychological/spy etc thriller: · Stephen King's new psychological thriller· He has written a spy thriller that recalls Fleming's James Bond series.· His latest work is a legal thriller set in Boston.
a short piece of writing in which the writer tells a story: · She started out writing short stories for the magazine 'Black Mask'.· I understand your novel was inspired by a short story by Katherine Mansfield.· a collection of American short stories
WORD SETSacrostic, nounadapt, verballiteration, nounanagram, nounannual, nounanthology, nounantihero, nounapologia, nounappendix, nounassonance, nounauthorship, nounautobiography, nounballad, nounbard, nounbathos, nounbiography, nounblank verse, nounbowdlerize, verbburlesque, nouncaesura, nouncameo, nouncanon, nouncanto, nouncaricature, nounchapter, nouncharacterization, nouncitation, nounclimax, nounclimax, verbcoda, nouncollected, adjectiveconceit, nouncorpus, nouncouplet, nouncritique, noundactyl, noundeclamatory, adjectivedeconstruction, noundense, adjectivedevice, noundialogue, noundiarist, noundiction, noundigest, noundoggerel, noundraft, noundraft, verbdrama, noundub, nounelegy, nounending, nounepic, adjectiveepigram, nounepilogue, nounepistolary, adjectiveepitaph, nounessay, nounessayist, nouneulogy, nounexegesis, nounfable, nounfairy tale, nounfantasy, nounfiction, nounfictional, adjectivefirst edition, nounfirst person, nounflashback, nounflorid, adjectiveflowery, adjectivefolk, adjectiveforeword, nounformulaic, adjectivefree verse, nounghost story, nounGothic, adjectivegrandiloquent, adjectivehaiku, nounheroic, adjectiveheroic couplet, nounhexameter, nounhumorist, nounhyperbole, nouniamb, nouniambic pentameter, nounimage, nounimagery, nouninformal, adjectiveingénue, nouninstalment, nounirony, nounjournal, nounlay, nounlimerick, nounlit., literary, adjectiveliterature, nounlyric, adjectivelyric, nounlyrical, adjectivelyricism, nounman of letters, nounmanuscript, nounmetaphor, nounmetaphorical, adjectivemetre, nounmetrical, adjectivemonologue, nounnarrative, nounnarrator, nounnaturalism, nounnaturalistic, adjectivenom de plume, nounnovel, nounnovelist, nounnovella, nounnursery rhyme, nounode, nounonomatopoeia, nounpadding, nounpaean, nounparagraph, nounparaphrase, verbparaphrase, nounparenthetical, adjectivepassage, nounpathetic fallacy, nounpen name, nounpentameter, nounperiphrasis, nounperoration, nounpicaresque, adjectiveplaywright, nounplot, nounpoem, nounpoet, nounpoetess, nounpoetic, adjectivepoetic licence, nounpoet laureate, nounpoetry, nounpolemic, nounpolemical, adjectivepotboiler, nounprécis, nounpreface, nounprefatory, adjectiveprologue, nounprose, nounprosody, nounprotagonist, nounpseudonym, nounpulp, nounquatrain, nounquotation, nounquote, verbreading, nounrecite, verbrendition, nounrevise, verbrevision, nounrhetoric, nounrhyme, nounrhyme, verbromance, nounsaga, nounsatire, nounsatirist, nounscience fiction, nounscribbler, nounscript, nounself-portrait, nounSF, Shakespearean, adjectiveshort story, nounsimile, nounsoliloquy, nounsonnet, nounstanza, nounstilted, adjectivestory, nounstream of consciousness, nounstylist, nounsubplot, nounsubtitle, nounsuperhero, nounsurrealism, nounsurrealistic, adjectivesynopsis, nountailpiece, nountale, nountalking book, nountearjerker, nountext, nountextual, adjectivetexture, nountheme, nounthriller, nountitle, nountragedian, nountragedy, nountragic, adjectivetragicomedy, nountrope, nounturgid, adjectiveunabridged, adjectiveverse, nounvignette, nounvolume, nounweepy, nounwell-turned, adjectivewhodunit, nounwriter, nounwriter's block, nounyarn, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY
a newly published science fiction novelCOLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES a mass-market paperback priced at $8.99
a newly published science fiction novel a mass-market paperback priced at $8.99 (=said when you think the book or film only expresses the author or director's own interests, which are not interesting to other people)
· John le Carré is famous for writing spy stories.· one of the most exciting spy movies of all time
(=one which is exciting because you do not know what will happen next)
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE· The reader's time and money would be better spent reading that classic novel you have been putting off for years.· Why the classic novel should have collaborated with the spirit of capitalism is perfectly obvious to Robyn.
· The Middlemen is uneven and less well-written than Brooke-Rose's earlier novels.· And there are other reappearances from the earlier novel.· Michel Butor's justifications for the devices used in his early novels are also grounded in the language of mimetic realism.
· She published a total of sixteen books in her career, of which ten were Gothic novels.· Rebecca also gives us Manderley, the first house to become a truly memorable character in a gothic novel.· There he penned a juvenile Gothic novel, a copy of which he intended to send to his belle.· Essentially, these Gothic novels are not the Gothics of today.· An abbey! the very sound of the word is thrilling to the young devotee of the Gothic novel.· Only their Gothic Romance novels are listed below; any other romance works will be discussed in the appropriate chapters.· Older writers of Romantic Suspense and Gothic novels suddenly became popular and the careers of numerous new authors were launched.
· He wrote what many believe to be the greatest novel ever written.· Quixote, Don, eponymous hero of the great novel by Cervantes.· It can be argued that no truly great novel has yet been written about the second world war.
· Tolstoy, Hemingway and Hardy, thrillers and spy stories, historical novels, light romances.· Many readers of Historical Romances also read historical novels, broadening the field of selection immensely.· Tony Ballard was a painter and his wife, Zelah, wrote historical novels.· The Gylbys' story reads like a historical novel.· The reverse is also true; those who prefer historical novels may also enjoy some Historical Romances.· Thus, the symbol for easy-reading historical and period novels would be F8a. 4.· The distinction between the Romantic Historical and the straight historical novel is a fuzzy one at best.
· For much of its course, the later novel takes all this for granted.· Since finishing the latest William Wilson novel two weeks earlier, he had been languishing.· As Gargy Patel reports, it intrigues detectives to this day, and has also inspired the latest Inspector Morse novel.· He'd sent her Iris Murdoch's latest novel.· Naughty by nature: Busi's latest novel latin lover Aldo Busi gives good quote.
· His new novel will be published next spring. 53.· Two new novels about cavemen are slugging it out in bookstores.· By and large, the new novel since 1953 has moved most naturally between social comedy and farce.· These new novels, however, were not the Historicals of the immediate past.· Brilliant new novel of redemption and rebirth from the winner of the 1988 Booker Prize.· A duty to describe is the moral hallmark of the new novel.· The new novel is just and filthy.· In texture the new novel is comic.
· Soon after her marriage Charlotte Despard became a writer of popular novels.· Mrs Keep entertained with chapters of popular novels.· How many of the popular novels of the past evoke derision rather than appreciation if we read them in too literal a spirit!· Once the staple of popular novels, music and movies, we rarely hear praise of the R-word any more.
· Escapism isn't just limited to dipping into science fiction or a romantic novel.· Most of her Romantic Suspense novels are now considered classic examples of the subgenre.· You've been reading too many romantic novels, she told herself.· Gripping Romantic Suspense novel of international intrigue.· It was under this imprint that the light romantic novels were issued which constituted the staple fare of Lane's circulating libraries.· As a life, it had the ingredients of a blockbuster romantic novel or epic costume film.· Looking back now they might have been playing out the rôle of characters from some nineteenth-century romantic novel.· Compare the romantic suspense novels of Mary Stewart with the international espionage tales of Ian Fleming.
· She would be around forty but had the appearance of a heroine in a Victorian novel - tall, willowy, ethereal.· You go on home now, and put those Victorian novels away.· One might with only slight exaggeration claim that firelight illuminates virtually every positive page in Victorian novels.· She read Victorian novels and studied textbooks of anatomy.· Accounts as overt as Kingsley's are, as I have said, most unusual in Victorian novels.· Social analysts and novelists alike seem determined to make these connections visible - hence the detective element in many Victorian novels.· Turner's secret life sounds like the stuff of a Victorian sensation novel.
NOUN· What then ensures that you keep within the confines of the crime novel?· It is the equivalent of the crime novel we have already analysed.· In one unpublished crime novel, the extortion plan was mentioned, he added.· Story, narrative, is what best keeps a crime novel squarely in the entertainment field and one should never forget it.· But they should be aimed at if you are writing in short story form the equivalent of the crime novel.· Your task in writing a crime novel will be different.· You will end up having written a novel, not a crime novel.· Where exactly it began rather depends on whether or not you decide to categorise certain books as police procedurals or as perhaps crime novels.
· One last observation about the detective novel.· It was limited, all gleaned from detective novels.· The same is true for the opening of the detective novel in Task 1.· How does it differ from the detective novel?· The murder helped prove a new science and became the plot in a detective novel.· But otherwise it had all the ingredients of the detective novel, down to a theme, the passion for justice.· Like the detective novel, the romance abides by a hermeneutic code, in which the outcome is always assured.· But characters will be much more present, be seen in much greater, convoluted depth even than in the detective novel.
· The pleasures of the romance novel are not dissimilar from those of the chocolate bar; naughty but nice.· Daniels, Dorothy Has produced approximately 150 romance novels, mostly of the gothic variety.· Leave it to the intellectuals to deride romance novels.· Their marriage has been the kind you read about in romance novels.· As for the staying power of the romance novel in the 21st century, history may well be on its side.· Persistent, pervasive, and omnipresent, romance novels are everywhere.· Wind from the south always boded evil in the old romance novels.
· It is the suspense novel, a type more easily recognised than defined.· Most of her Romantic Suspense novels are now considered classic examples of the subgenre.· If this notion suits you temperamentally, then try producing this sort of suspense novel.· Romantic suspense novels are escape novels.· Gripping Romantic Suspense novel of international intrigue.· Compare the romantic suspense novels of Mary Stewart with the international espionage tales of Ian Fleming.
VERB· Spider was written by Patrick McGrath, and is based on his 1991 novel of the same name.
· Back in the United States he supported himself by doing construction work while trying to publish short stories and novels.
· That he succeeds in having it both ways is our experience of reading his novel in its dominant and thriller aspect.· I write letters, read novels, watch Ken paint.· He read a great deal as a child and later said that he read Euclid as easily as an adult reads a novel.· Her father read from novels when the plates were cleared.· The Gylbys' story reads like a historical novel.
· Angus Wilson could write a cruel novel about Kyrenia.· I write letters, read novels, watch Ken paint.· This one sentence from the notebooks goes straight home to the novel which eventually got written.· The News is now edited by Pete Hamill, who also writes novels.· In the 1920s and 1930s Nina Boyle wrote a number of novels.· He was extremely prolific, writing novels, short stories, detective fiction set in Harlem.· He also wrote a string of novels and short stories.· My experience was limited largely to news and news feature writing until recently, when I ventured to write a novel.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a long written story in which the characters and events are usually imaginary: - But they can also be used to play the game that is the simple blueprint detective story.
- Elizabeth did not like detective stories, because some one was usually hanged at the end of them.
- I wanted to stay and read the latest Encyclopedia Brown detective story.
- It was the feeling she had had as a child when she frightened herself with a detective story.
- Key elements are missing, primarily the complexities, surprises and textures of the detective stories.
- Their approach is informal and Physics of Stellar Evolution and Cosmology reads like a scientific detective story.
- This is the detective novel or the crime novel which makes its comments on life through humour rather than more directly.
- Your detective of the detective story, of course, went about seeking information.
a novel by Jane Austen It took Vikram Seth three years to write his 1,349-page novel ‘A Suitable Boy’.detective/romantic/historical etc novel a newly published science fiction novel► see thesaurus at booknovel1 nounnovel2 adjective
novelnovel2 ●●○ adjective [usually before noun] WORD ORIGINnovel2
Origin:
1400-1500 Old French ‘new’, from Latin novellus, from novus ‘new’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- a novel approach to the problem
- I spent six months living in a monastery in northern India, which was a novel experience.
- Scientists have come up with a novel way of catching fish.
- Tonight's TV news will be presented in a novel format.
- A novel development, the company claims, it turns Macs into cheap workstations.
- Since then, imprisoning corporate officials has become less novel but by no means universal.
- The model produced provides an excellent and novel way of viewing the business.
THESAURUS
· a new sports centre· a new edition of the book· an entirely new theory of time and space
completely new: · a brand new car· The house looks brand new.
made, produced etc a short time ago: · recent research into brain chemistry
[only before noun] the most recent: · Have you seen his latest film?· the latest fashions from Paris
different from earlier things of the same kind because of using new methods, equipment, or designs: · modern technology· modern farming methods· a modern kitchen
new and completely different from what other people have done or thought of before, especially in a way that seems interesting: · The play is highly original.· His style is completely original.
fresh ideas, evidence, or ways of doing things are new and different, and are used instead of previous ones: · We need a fresh approach to the problem.· They want young people with fresh ideas.· Police think they may have found some fresh evidence that links him to the murder.
new and different in a surprising and unusual way – used especially about a suggestion, experience, or way of doing something: · The club have come up with a novel way of raising cash.· The King was passionately in love, which was a novel experience for him.
completely new and showing a lot of imagination – used especially about a design or way of doing something: · an attractive website with an innovative design· They came up with an innovative approach to the problem.
completely new in a way that has a very big effect – used especially about an idea, method, or invention: · a revolutionary treatment for breast cancer· His theories were considered to be revolutionary at the time.
[only before noun] used about something that is new and modern but which you disapprove of: · My grandfather hated all this newfangled technology.
Longman Language Activatornew ideas or ways of doing things new ideas or ways of doing things that did not exist before or had not been thought of before: · Does anyone have any new ideas?new ways/methods of doing something: · The hospital is doing a lot of research into new ways of treating asthma.· It's vital that we find new methods of producing and conserving energy.
completely different from anything that has been thought of before: original idea/design/style: · My job is to think up creative and original advertising ideascompletely original: · Woolf's writing was completely original - nothing like it had ever been done before.· a jazz musician with a completely original stylehighly original: · I was impressed by the highly original design of the house.
a revolutionary idea, method, or invention is completely different from anything that existed before, and is likely to bring important changes or improvements: · Einstein's revolutionary theories made people look at the universe in a completely new way.· revolutionary technology for producing cheap, pollution-free energy· The new treatment for cancer is considered revolutionary.
an innovative design, idea, plan etc is new, different and better than those that existed before, and shows a lot of imagination: · The city has introduced an innovative system of traffic control.· When it was first introduced, the electric car was described as one of the ten most innovative products of the year.highly innovative: · The idea for the programme 'Big Brother' was highly innovative.
something such as a new idea, method, or system that has never been thought of before, especially one that is better than previous ones: · The kids-only Internet service is a great innovation which will help parents control their children's access to the Internet.technological innovations: · All the latest technological innovations of cinema were used to create the special effects.communication/software etc innovations: · What exactly will the impact of all these communication innovations be?
a fresh idea, approach etc is new and different from previous ones, and may help to deal with a problem: · We need a fresh approach to this problem.· The negotiations won't make any progress unless one of the sides puts forward fresh proposals.· Toy manufacturers are always on the lookout for fresh ideas.
a novel idea, method etc is new and interesting because it is unexpected and different from what has existed before: · Scientists have come up with a novel way of catching fish.· Tonight's TV news will be presented in a novel format.· I spent six months living in a monastery in northern India, which was a novel experience.
something that is interesting because it is new and unusual, especially when this makes people think it is not very serious: · Retail analysts say that electronic shopping remains a novelty for most peopleit is a novelty for somebody to do something: · It was a novelty for people at college to see a student with two kids.be something of a novelty (=seem new and unusual): · Fast-food restaurants like McDonald's are still something of a novelty in Moscow.
pioneering work, research, efforts etc introduce completely new ways of doing things, which are later followed and developed by other people: · Moore's pioneering work on semiconductors has made him perhaps the most famous figure in Silicon Valley.· Pioneering research shows that the experiences of childhood help form the brain's circuits for music and maths, language and emotion.
if a science or a new area of knowledge or study is in its infancy , people have just begun to find out more about it, to work with it etc: · The science of cybernetics is still in its infancy.· These rockets were built at a time when space technology was in its infancy.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY What a novel idea!COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES a mass-market paperback priced at $8.99
What a novel idea! a mass-market paperback priced at $8.99 (=said when you think the book or film only expresses the author or director's own interests, which are not interesting to other people)
· John le Carré is famous for writing spy stories.· one of the most exciting spy movies of all time
(=one which is exciting because you do not know what will happen next)
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN· Thus it was that the world took such note of Fleischmann and Pons' claim to have found a novel approach.· For example, when the legislature asked for a study of the personnel department, the change leaders took a novel approach.· The most novel approach related to sickness benefit.· Another novel approach was used by an applicant for a sales position with a large department store.· Then for comparison, entertainment and for later examination we offer a more novel approach which apparently uses only irreducibility.· This time, the owner of Drew Nicol's pub in Cockburn Street tried a novel approach to avoid unwanted thefts.
· And the visitor's interest is kept alive by the deeply moving beauty of novel forms.· This mechanism suggests a novel form of contraception.· A special mention should be made of the use of novel forms of clauses designed to exclude any possibility of judicial review.· In Haryana, women have devised a novel form of protest.· The imposition of the retirement condition constituted a novel form of institutionalized dependence.
· It was such a novel idea it was hard to get your mind around it.· Sometimes, however, novel ideas can boomerang.· It was a novel idea and one we appreciated later when the weather improved.· Law-and-order was one thing; the novel idea of the public sector providing parkland for the people was quite another.· At that time, this was a relatively novel idea without much basis in fact.· It's a novel idea whose time has come.· He never had another fundamentally novel idea in general biological theory.· However in this section I include a few novel ideas.
· The new regiment was the Army's first experiment in sending men into battle by this novel method.· This is certainly a novel method of signaling fair-mindedness on the eve of serious federal policy negotiations.· Frank has organised this novel method of fund raising - final date for offers is December 14.· Moreover his novel method is notable, as the artists have all a conventional and uniform style in regard to the representation of mountains.
· Politics, intrigue, and action characterize this contemporary novel set in New York.
· Or he may surprise you with a novel way to cope.· In Loreto Entally, however, the community soon found a more novel way of distinguishing the two.· If the adventurers are not very knowledgeable about Constant Drachenfels, this is a novel way of feeding them some more information.· There are now novel ways to go wrong.· The model produced provides an excellent and novel way of viewing the business.· This involves making random leaps and jumps in thinking in order to develop novel ways of problem solving.· Creative thinking is the process of developing new ideas, new inventions and novel ways of doing things.· The Oxford postgraduate student has hit on a novel way of studying moths on his forthcoming trip to Sumatra.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
not like anything known before, and unusual or interestingnovel idea/approach/method etc- But they can also be used to play the game that is the simple blueprint detective story.
- Elizabeth did not like detective stories, because some one was usually hanged at the end of them.
- I wanted to stay and read the latest Encyclopedia Brown detective story.
- It was the feeling she had had as a child when she frightened herself with a detective story.
- Key elements are missing, primarily the complexities, surprises and textures of the detective stories.
- Their approach is informal and Physics of Stellar Evolution and Cosmology reads like a scientific detective story.
- This is the detective novel or the crime novel which makes its comments on life through humour rather than more directly.
- Your detective of the detective story, of course, went about seeking information.
What a novel idea!► see thesaurus at new