Romeo and Juliet

American  

noun

1. a tragedy (produced between 1591 and 1596) by Shakespeare.

---

Romeo and Juliet Cultural  

1. A tragedy by William Shakespeare about two “star-crossed lovers” (see also star-crossed lovers) whose passionate love for each other ends in death because of the senseless feud between their families. The line “Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?” is well known.

---

Discover More

Figuratively, a “Romeo” is an amorous young man.

Example Sentences

When Cathy first meets Edgar and Isabella, she climbs the wall of their estate and spies on the two having tea in a courtyard, where Isabella is extolling Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.”

From Salon

Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” gets references in many lyrics, as well as a star turn in the Mark Knopfler ballad of the same name.

From Los Angeles Times

“Or if they do, they’re like Ginny and Dickie—sorry, Mrs. Koong and Mr. McGinity—who don’t remember anything, even though as, like, the Romeo and Juliet of Shady Glen, they must have such a good story.”

From Literature

Thompson: The masquerade ball made me think about Romeo and Juliet a lot.

From Los Angeles Times

Mescal had done the usual “Romeo and Juliet” and “Macbeth” as a drama student, but he says it seemed obligatory for an aspiring actor to love Shakespeare.

From The Wall Street Journal