What does “novel” mean?
- 1
nouna long written story about imaginary people and events
She is writing her first novel.
- 2
adjectivenew, different and unusual
The researchers proposed a novel approach to the problem.
Novel at a glance
- Part of speech
- noun & adjective
- CEFR level
- B1 (intermediate)
- Pronunciation
- /ˈnɑvəl/ · NOV-ul
How to use “novel” correctly
The adjective is the tricky one: in academic writing “novel” means new and original, not “like a book”.
Common phrases with “novel”
- a historical novel
- a novel idea
- a novel approach
- a graphic novel
Synonyms, opposites and related words
Word family
- novelist
- novelty
“novel” is on these word lists
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