meet-cute
Americannoun
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(in a movie or TV show) a chance meeting between two characters who do not know each other, starting a chain of events that typically leads to a romantic relationship.
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a similar incident in real life.
Other Word Forms
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.
The two would marry in 2006, and their moments together in the film have the energy of a rom-com meet-cute.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 24, 2026
It is not quite the classic meet-cute, though cute enough, contusions aside: Stan is less concerned about his head than with the location of Cynthia’s bathroom.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 23, 2025
When she rescues a 4-year-old girl from drowning, it turns a traumatic incident into a meet-cute with the girl’s dad, Adam.
From Los Angeles Times • May 27, 2025
What Sofi doesn't know is that some time before this meet-cute, Jimmy stumbles on Alice and Brian sharing dinner with Louis at a restaurant.
From Salon • Dec. 14, 2024
We had the meet-cute, so I allowed us the full rom-com text treatment this weekend.
From "Love, Hate & Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed
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.
