Romeo and Juliet

American  

noun

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

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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.

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

Example Sentences

“It disrupts the notion that if child marriage happens, it is the Romeo-and-Juliet scenario of two 17-year-olds who just can’t wait to love each other,” said Lyric Thompson, one of the study’s co-authors.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 15, 2021

“We were doing a lot of Shakespeare dialogue, and we had to be very specific with it,” says Santos, who plays one of several Juliets in the Romeo-and-Juliet inspired piece “Star-Crossed Love.”

From Los Angeles Times • May 10, 2020

Klutzy comedy about rival Italian-American catering dynasties, whose two kids fall in love, Romeo-and-Juliet style.

From The Guardian • Oct. 3, 2019

While Stella’s mental health is only one detail in the grand scheme of the movie—it’s more consumed with its Romeo-and-Juliet love story and ice-skating melodrama—it does breathe some authentic life into a tired genre.

From Slate • Mar. 21, 2019

I was afraid she’d start building an elaborate Romeo-and-Juliet romance about Oscar—just as I once did.

From "Before We Were Free" by Julia Alvarez