romantic
Americanadjective
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of, relating to, or of the nature of romance; characteristic or suggestive of the world of romance.
a romantic adventure.
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not practical; unrealistic; fanciful.
romantic ideas.
- Synonyms:
- fantastic, imaginative, wild, exaggerated, extravagant
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imbued with or dominated by idealism, a desire for adventure, chivalry, etc.
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characterized by a preoccupation with love or by the idealizing of love or one's beloved.
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displaying or expressing love or strong affection.
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Usually Romantic of, relating to, or characteristic of a style of literature and art that subordinates form to content, encourages freedom of treatment, emphasizes imagination, emotion, and introspection, and often celebrates nature, the ordinary person, and freedom of the spirit (contrasted with classical).
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of or relating to a musical style characteristic chiefly of the 19th century and marked by the free expression of imagination and emotion, virtuosic display, experimentation with form, and the adventurous development of orchestral and piano music and opera.
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imaginary, fictitious, or fabulous.
- Synonyms:
- unreal, improbable
- Antonyms:
- probable
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noting, of, or pertaining to the role of a suitor or lover in a play about love.
the romantic lead.
noun
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a romantic person.
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a romanticist.
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romantics, romantic ideas, ways, etc.
adjective
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of, relating to, imbued with, or characterized by romance
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evoking or given to thoughts and feelings of love, esp idealized or sentimental love
a romantic woman
a romantic setting
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impractical, visionary, or idealistic
a romantic scheme
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euphemistic imaginary or fictitious
a romantic account of one's war service
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(often capital) of or relating to a movement in European art, music, and literature in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, characterized by an emphasis on feeling and content rather than order and form, on the sublime, supernatural, and exotic, and the free expression of the passions and individuality
noun
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a person who is romantic, as in being idealistic, amorous, or soulful
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a person whose tastes in art, literature, etc, lie mainly in romanticism; romanticist
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(often capital) a poet, composer, etc, of the romantic period or whose main inspiration or interest is romanticism
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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superromanticallyadverb
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romanticallyadverb
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ultraromanticadjective
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hyperromanticallyadverb
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unromanticallyadverb
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proromanticadjective
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romanticalnessnoun
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nonromanticadjective
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pseudoromanticallyadverb
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quasi-romanticallyadverb
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hyperromanticadjective
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half-romanticadjective
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superromanticadjective
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semiromanticadjective
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semiromanticallyadverb
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post-Romanticadjective
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pseudoromanticadjective
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preromanticadjective
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antiromanticadjective
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nonromanticallyadverb
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quasi-romanticadjective
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half-romanticallyadverb
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unromanticadjective
Etymology
Origin of romantic
First recorded in 1650–60; from French romantique, derivative of romant romaunt; see -ic
Explanation
If something is romantic, it isn't very practical, like the librarian's romantic dream of convincing every person in town to read a book a week for life — a great idea that probably isn't possible. To be romantic about something can mean that you overlook its flaws and shortcomings. If your romantic ideal is growing all of your own food on a secluded farm, you are probably ignoring the tremendous amount of hard work it will require. Or, if you are romantic about love, you believe the perfect person is out there and in finding one another, all the problems and difficulties of life will melt away.
Vocabulary lists containing romantic
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She also stood by her late husband despite his notorious romantic affairs with other women, something both referred to in their memoirs.
From Barron's • Jun. 6, 2026
Throughout “Ike and Winston” Mr. Jordan, a federal bankruptcy judge and author of several well-regarded works of history, pits “Winston the romantic against Ike the realist.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026
The review called it a "true hate story" and noted that "while the romantic relationship is the staging point for all the dramatic tension, the more interesting story is about the friendship it's destroying".
From BBC • Jun. 5, 2026
By contrast, on social media, Boy Moms stand alone, the main characters in what often seem like one-woman romantic tragedies of doomed longing.
From Salon • Jun. 4, 2026
Their itinerant, artistic lifestyle appealed to him: Moody was a romantic at heart.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
