What does novelty mean?
Word: Novelty
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Novelty means the quality of being new and unusual. A novelty is also a small, cheap toy or ornament that is fun because it is different.
Synonyms: freshness, originality
Antonyms: familiarity
How do you spell novelty?
Syllables: nov - el - ty
Tricky part: Words like ability tempt you to add an i and write novelity, but novelty has no i after the l.
Watch out for: novelity, noveltey
Memory tip: Say it in three beats and listen: there is no extra beat for an i before the ty.
Novelty in a sentence
Example 1: The novelty of the new phone wore off in a week.
Example 2: The fair had a novelty stall selling glow-in-the-dark pens.
Example 3: Snow was a novelty for the cousins from Chennai.
Fun Fact
Novel and novelty come from the Latin novus, new. A nova, a star that suddenly seems to appear in the sky, gets its name from the same word.
Practise the CREST Way
Jumble Tumble
Choose the correct sequence of the jumbled letters to form a meaningful word:
tlvonye 1234567
a) 3456127
b) 6534217
c) 6357421
d) 5437216
Show answer
d) 5437216. Taken in the right order, the seven letters of tlvonye spell novelty; the other orders jumble the v, e or l.
Spell Spies
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) loyalty
b) royalty
c) novalty
d) cruelty
Show answer
c) novalty. Novelty has el in the middle, just like cruelty.
Word Puzzle
Match the words in the two lists:
1. novelty 2. courage 3. sorrow a. grief b. newness c. bravery
a) 1-c, 2-a, 3-b
b) 1-b, 2-c, 3-a
c) 1-b, 2-a, 3-c
d) 1-a, 2-b, 3-c
Show answer
b) 1-b, 2-c, 3-a. Novelty is newness, courage is bravery and sorrow is grief.
Sound Check
In which word is 'ov' pronounced differently?
a) novelty
b) novice
c) poverty
d) glove
Show answer
d) glove. Glove has the u sound of cup; novelty, novice and poverty have the short o of hot.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A shop that sells novelties would most likely stock ____.
a) pencils shaped like rockets
b) plain white paper
c) sacks of cement
d) kilo bags of rice
Show answer
a) pencils shaped like rockets
2. When the novelty wears off, you ____.
a) stop finding it exciting
b) give it a new name
c) break it on purpose
d) start liking it more
Show answer
a) stop finding it exciting
