nouveau roman

noun

A type of 1950s French novel that diverged from classical literary genres; antinovel.

OriginFrench nouveau roman →
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Meanings

nounnouveau roman (plural nouveaux romans)

plural nouveaux romans

  1. literatureA type of 1950s French novel that diverged from classical literary genres; antinovel.

Origin

  1. Frenchnouveau roman
  2. Englishnouveau roman

Unadapted borrowing from French nouveau roman (literally “new novel”); coined by Émile Henriot in the newspaper Le Monde on May 22, 1957.

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

nouveau roman. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nouveau%20roman

MLA

“nouveau roman.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nouveau%20roman. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nouveau roman,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nouveau%20roman.

Source: nouveau roman on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.