Definition of Roman à clef

1. Noun. A novel in which actual persons and events are disguised as fictional characters.

Generic synonyms: Novel

Definition of Roman à clef

1. Noun. a piece of fiction, especially a novel, containing real-life people and/or events ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Roman à Clef

romaine lettuce
romaines
romaja
romaji
romajis
romal
romals
roman
roman a clef
roman fleuve
roman font
roman letters
roman print
roman type
roman world
roman à clef (current term)
romance
romanced
romanceless
romancelike
romancer
romancers
romances
romancing
romancist
romancists
romancy
romanechite
romanechites
romanesque

Literary usage of Roman à clef

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Eighteenth Century Vignettes by Austin Dobson (1896)
"There are Defoe's ' Colonel Jack' and ' Roxana,' and there is the ' Stage-Coach '; 1 Another roman a clef, in which Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, no mean judge ..."

2. Eighteenth Century Vignettes: Third Series by Austin Dobson (1896)
"There are Defoe's ' Colonel Jack' and ' Roxana,' and there is the ' Stage-Coach '; 1 Another roman a clef, in which Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, no mean judge ..."

3. The Bookman (1899)
"... is a declared naturalist—the writer spent some time voluntarily in such an institution, and her story has been treated in Denmark as a roman a clef. ..."

4. British Books in Print by J. Whitaker & Sons (1902)
"A Realistic Roman-a-clef. By GROVE JOHNSON. Crown 8vo, cloth, 35. 6d. Zoroastro. An Historical Romance. By CRESWICK J. THOMPSON, Author of " Poison Romance ..."

5. The New Fiction: And Other Essays on Literary Subjects by Henry Duff Traill (1897)
"... he would have been thoroughly qualified to produce what is now-a-days our almost only substitute for the political novel—that is to say, a roman a clef, ..."

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