epistolary
Say it: ih-PIS-tuh-luh-ree /ɪˈpɪstələri/ · adjective
What “epistolary” means
Telling a story through letters or written messages.
More precisely: Told through letters, or relating to letter-writing.
Example: “Her new novel is epistolary, told entirely through emails and texts.”
When to use it
When describing novels or stories built from letters, diary entries, emails or messages rather than a continuous narrated account.
Memory trick
Latin epistola means letter: picture a whole story arriving in envelopes.
Similar words
in letters, letter-based, correspondence
Where it comes from
Latin epistola, 'letter'.
Quick check
You learn the entire plot of a novel through letters exchanged between two cousins. How is the novel told?
picaresque or epistolary?
Show the answer
epistolary
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