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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