meet-cute
Americannoun
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meet-cutes
plural
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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
Noun Inflected 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.
See Examples For:
The professional meet-cute between Gretta and Dan happens at an open-mic night at a dive.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
“The Bone People” follows the trajectory of a romantic comedy—a woman finds love in a meet-cute, loses that love and, after many travails, finds it again, even better than before.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
In fact, in her first meet-cute with Mr. Hayward, he dons his own glasses, the first of many acts in which he matches Mary in the series.
From Salon ● Jun. 25, 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
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
"The little meet-cutes don't happen so much when you're at home with your shirt up top and your pyjamas down bottom," she jokes.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
It has holiday magic, multiple meet-cutes, an enemies-to-lovers relationship, an ambitious main character making a name for herself returning to her roots.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 18, 2024
However, it's a promising sign that meet-cutes haven't entirely fallen out of favor with moviegoers.
From Reuters ● Apr. 3, 2022
“Super Host” is set in a fairy tale of London, chock-a-block with meet-cutes and grocery store cashiers who offer to lend their copy of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” to first-time customers.
From New York Times ● Feb. 9, 2021
The beginning of her relationship with her husband involved a series of meet-cutes.
From Slate ● Jun. 15, 2016
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