meet-cute

American

[meet kyoot] / ˈmit ˌkyut /

noun

plural

meet-cutes

(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.
a similar incident in real life.

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.

His fling with Pearl in the present might be a cross-cultural meet-cute.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 26, 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

It also became a classic meet-cute because his gardening neighbor turned out to be Estrada’s best friend.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 26, 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