Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Relating to or consisting of letters: Describes something that is written in the form of letters or involves the exchange of letters.
   • Carried on by or suitable for letters: Pertaining to communication or a narrative style conducted through written correspondence.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • The museum has a collection of the author's epistolary manuscripts.
  • Their friendship was primarily epistolary, sustained through years of letter-writing.
  • "Dracula" is a famous novel written in an epistolary style, using journal entries and letters.

Advanced Usage

• "epistolary novel": A novel written as a series of documents, typically letters.
  • Samuel Richardson's "Pamela" is considered a classic of the epistolary novel form.
• "epistolary exchange": A conversation or dialogue conducted through letters.
  • The epistolary exchange between the two philosophers was later published as a book.

Variants and Related Words

• Epistolatory (adjective): A less common variant with the same meaning as "epistolary."
  • The epistolatory nature of their relationship is evident from the archive.
• Epistle (noun): A formal or literary letter.
  • The apostle Paul wrote many epistles found in the New Testament.

Synonyms

• Correspondence-based: Involving written communication.
• Letter-writing: Pertaining to the act or style of writing letters.

Related Phrases

• In epistolary form: Presented or structured as a letter or series of letters.
  • The essay was written in epistolary form, addressed to a fictional friend.

Adjective

1. written in the form of or carried on by letters or correspondence
   • an endless sequence of epistolary love affairs
   • the epistolatory novel