star-crossed lovers

¹

1. Lovers whose relationship is doomed to fail are said to be “star-crossed” (frustrated by the stars), because those who believe in astrology claim that the stars control human destiny. William Shakespeare used the phrase to describe the lovers in Romeo and Juliet.

star-crossed lovers

²

1. A phrase from the play Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare; Romeo and Juliet are so described in the prologue to the play.

“Star-crossed lovers” refers to any lovers whose affection for each other is doomed to end in tragedy.

Example Sentences

They will portray the star-crossed lovers on stage at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London from March 2026, as first reported by US outlet Deadline.

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Jessica and Erik Berglund, who live in Orange just around where Freeman grew up, are star-crossed lovers in MLB terms, with Jessica bleeding Dodgers blue and Erik cheering on the Angels.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Spanning over 150 years, this multigenerational American epic connects star-crossed lovers Tirzah and Harrison, formerly enslaved spouses whose Civil War separation sets the story in motion, to Ardelia and Oliver, a couple celebrating their engagement in 2019 New York.

Read more on Salon

Yet the comic high jinks, star-crossed lovers and long-lost relatives that pop up in his play “The Miser,” first produced in 1668, will be instantly familiar to anybody who has ever seen a Shakespeare comedy.

Read more on New York Times

“Fairytale of New York” flips this notion on its head by celebrating star-crossed lovers, gamblers and bums in a drunk tank — all the misfits who are searching for a family of their own on Christmas Eve.

Read more on Los Angeles Times