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telenovela

soap opera

noun teh-leh-noh-BEH-lah Rare

Usage Note

Telenovela is the distinctly Latin American serialized melodrama, typically broadcast daily for a finite run (unlike the open-ended US soap opera). The genre originated in Cuba and has spread globally; the word itself is used internationally. Distinct from a serie (ongoing TV series) or culebrón (a pejorative term for a drawn-out soap). The compound breaks into tele- (television) + novela (novel/story).

Examples

"Mi abuela ve la telenovela todas las tardes."

Natural Translation

My grandmother watches the soap opera every afternoon.

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