penny dreadful

noun

A cheap paperback book, particularly those concerning lurid depictions of crime in the Victorian era.

Similar
dime novel
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Meanings

nounpenny dreadful (plural penny dreadfuls)

plural penny dreadfuls

  1. A cheap paperback book, particularly those concerning lurid depictions of crime in the Victorian era.

    They can read the ‘penny dreadful’, but they cannot darn their stockings or mend their shoes.

    1861 July 29, North American Review
  2. Pulp fiction: stories written in the lurid style of the penny dreadfuls.

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna melodramatic paperback novel

Similar
dime novel
Broader
novel
Also see
dime novel

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

From its low price and the lower-class British use of dreadful (“sensationalized crime reporting”).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

penny dreadful. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/penny%20dreadful

MLA

“penny dreadful.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/penny%20dreadful. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “penny dreadful,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/penny%20dreadful.

Source: penny dreadful on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.