a novel, movie, or genre of popular fiction in which characters fall in love or begin a romantic relationship (often used attributively).
We knew it was a romance, so we were expecting a happy ending.
Romance novels are popular escapist entertainment.
a novel or other prose narrative depicting heroic or marvelous deeds, pageantry, romantic exploits, etc., usually in a historical or imaginary setting.
The famous chivalric romance Ivanhoe is set in medieval England.
the colorful world, life, or conditions depicted in such tales.
a medieval narrative, originally one in verse and in some Romance dialect, treating the subjects of heroic chivalry and fantastic or supernatural events, often in the form of allegory.
a baseless, made-up story, usually full of exaggeration or fanciful invention.
feelings or demonstrations of love or desire, especially idealized love.
There was no romance left in their marriage, but the partnership worked in every other regard.
the attractive, partly imagined character or quality of something, as an era, a place, or an activity, that suggests adventure, heroism, excitement, glamour, and distance from the everyday.
The romance of crossing an ocean to a new life still clung to the old immigrant steamer trunk.
a romantic affair or experience; a love affair.
Also called Romance languages. Romance. Also the group of Italic Indo-European languages descended since a.d. 800 from Latin, as French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Provençal, Catalan, Rhaeto-Romanic, Sardinian, and Ladino. Rom., Rom
to invent or relate romances; indulge in fanciful or extravagant stories or daydreams.
to think or talk romantically.
Music. a short, simple melody, vocal or instrumental, of tender character.
Spanish Literature. a short epic poem, especially a historical ballad.
a love affair, esp an intense and happy but short-lived affair involving young people
love, esp romantic love idealized for its purity or beauty
a spirit of or inclination for adventure, excitement, or mystery
a mysterious, exciting, sentimental, or nostalgic quality, esp one associated with a place
a narrative in verse or prose, written in a vernacular language in the Middle Ages, dealing with strange and exciting adventures of chivalrous heroes
any similar narrative work dealing with events and characters remote from ordinary life
the literary genre represented by works of these kinds
(in Spanish literature) a short narrative poem, usually an epic or historical ballad
a story, novel, film, etc, dealing with love, usually in an idealized or sentimental way
an extravagant, absurd, or fantastic account or explanation
a lyrical song or short instrumental composition having a simple melody
(intr) to tell, invent, or write extravagant or romantic fictions
(intr) to tell extravagant or improbable lies
(intr) to have romantic thoughts
(intr) (of a couple) to indulge in romantic behaviour
(tr) to be romantically involved with
denoting, relating to, or belonging to the languages derived from Latin, including Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Romanian
denoting a word borrowed from a Romance language
there are many Romance words in English
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English romaunce, romanz, romanys, from Old French romanz, romans “story, narrative, history in the vernacular (French) language; a Romance language,” from assumed Vulgar Latin Rōmānicē (scrībere) (adverb) “(to write) in the vernacular, in a Romance language” (i.e., as opposed to Latin), derivative of Latin Rōmānicus “in the Roman style or pattern”; see Romanic
First recorded in 1595–1605; from French, from Spanish romance “kind of poem in octosyllabic verse, ballad,” from Old French romanz romance 1
Romance is the relationship between two lovers. Is there a romance blossoming between you and your lab partner, or is the assignment so hard you have to work together constantly? Romance comes from Roman, and first meant a story translated into French from Latin (the common language of old Rome), usually about the amorous adventures of chivalrous knights, which is how romances came to be associated with love stories. Now it's used to mean a love relationship, in a story or not. The Romance languages are those derived from Latin. If you romance a tale, you exaggerate it, and if you romance a person, you're making advances.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
As Roosevelt put it, “here the romance of my life began.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
It was women like Amelia who helped inspire another Cardiff reader to open the city's first bookshop dedicated solely to romance.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
The club mainly focuses on different aspects of the romance genre – this month's pick is a cowboy romance, although she is open to other types of books such as thrillers.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
In his excellent 2022 collection, “Reward System,” Jem Calder explored the trials of digitally mediated romance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
The divorcee remarried after a whirlwind four-month romance and moved with her new husband to a brand-new McMansion in Lakewood.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
Romance is the key that finally unlocked the world of reading for Amelia Lord after she had avoided it throughout her life.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
Both the Authors Guild and Romance Writers of America mounted legal challenges to Hopkins, arguing that “cocky” could not be associated with a single author.
From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026
Romance readers know the first rule of Romance Club: You always get a happily ever after.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026
Romance, in particular, has seen "a huge rise in unabashed public appreciation, sales and respect thanks to the power of BookTok and its creators".
From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2026
What we had to read were Mama’s True Romance magazines and a few Classic comics.
From "Bad Boy" by Walter Dean Myers
But while Penn's romances have had their well-chronicled highs and lows, his acting career only followed one trajectory: up.
From Barron's ● Mar. 16, 2026
The doomed romances, too—particularly between luminaries whose intellectual or artistic curiosity doesn’t extend to compassion for the people they claim to love.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026
That these romances represent consideration as the ultimate seduction makes them not merely release valves, but emotionally liberating escapes.
From Salon ● Mar. 4, 2026
Gyllenhaal’s “The Bride!” may catch the same current wave of pop-inflected Gothic-style romances as Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” and Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2026
And then there were the proper films, the dramas, sweeping histories and heartbreaking romances.
From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland
Still, if my nostalgia-clouded memory serves me correctly, our alleged aimlessness and “whatever” philosophy is amply romanced in movies.
From Salon ● Mar. 1, 2024
‘Rebecca’ A naive Joan Fontaine is romanced by widower Laurence Olivier and menaced by Olivier’s live-in housekeeper, Judith Anderson, in Alfred Hitchcock’s Oscar-winning 1940 suspense tale based on the novel by Daphne du Maurier.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 6, 2022
Ms. Setouchi described her “Genji” translation as her “life-project,” but said she initially struggled to connect with the book’s female characters, who were alternately romanced and discarded by the young prince.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 29, 2021
But his role as a small-time hood who romanced American ingenue Jean Seberg in Godard's "Breathless" earned him international stardom.
From Reuters ● Sep. 6, 2021
Woolf began coming in regularly, parking his Stetson on the table and pointing Greenberg’s nose in the Racing Form while he romanced her.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
Maria believed she was romancing a prince from Dubai, captivated by his flirtatious smile and declarations of affection he showered on her during live video calls.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
Palmer found himself spending time trying to get his expenses cleared through an incompetent bureaucracy, rather than romancing a beautiful girl on a sandy beach.
From BBC ● Mar. 17, 2026
Miss Piggy insists on living la vie en rose above all, including romancing herself.
From Salon ● Feb. 28, 2026
When their rapacious cousin Charles appears, hoping to find buried treasure in the house and romancing the “pink and white and golden” Constance, Merricat takes drastic action.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025
I thought she was just romancing him, kindly playing to his mostly self-promoting immigrant lore, but later she’d showed Mitt, too, kneeling down beside him to watch the men and women busy in the street.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
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.
