anti-novelist
|an-ti-nov-el-ist|
🇺🇸
/ˌæntiˈnævəlɪst/
🇬🇧
/ˌæntiˈnɒvəlɪst/
person opposed to novelists or producing anti-novels
Etymology
'anti-novelist' is a modern English compound formed from the prefix 'anti-' + 'novelist'. The prefix 'anti-' ultimately comes from Greek 'antí' meaning 'against', while 'novelist' is from 'novel' + suffix '-ist'; 'novel' traces back to Italian 'novella' meaning 'new (thing)' or 'news'.
'novel' entered English via Anglo-Norman and Middle French from Italian 'novella' (from Latin 'novella', feminine of 'novellus' meaning 'new'); 'novelist' was later formed in English by adding the agentive suffix '-ist' to 'novel'. The prefix 'anti-' passed into English from Greek through Latin and French. The compound 'anti-novelist' is a descriptive modern formation combining those elements.
The constituent parts originally conveyed 'against' (anti-) and 'writer of novels' (novelist). Over time the compound came to denote either (1) someone opposed to novelists/novels or (2) a creator of works that intentionally subvert novelistic conventions; both senses are consistent with the literal components but reflect later critical and experimental literary usage.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a person who is opposed to novelists or to the novel as a literary form; someone who criticizes or rejects novels and novel-writing.
The conference included a surprising number of anti-novelists who argued that the contemporary novel had lost its moral purpose.
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Noun 2
a writer who composes 'anti-novels' — works that deliberately reject conventional novelistic techniques (plot, characterization, narrative continuity) in favor of experimental or fragmentary forms.
As an anti-novelist, she produced fragmented texts that refused linear plot and stable characters.
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Last updated: 2025/11/09 18:26