romantic

Syllables: ro·mant·icUK/ɹə(ʊ)ˈmæntɪk//ɹoʊˈmæn(t)ɪk/

romantic adjective: of a work of literature, a writer etc.: being like or having the characteristics of a romance, or poetic tale of a mythic or quasi-historical time; fantastic. Also the alternative letter-case form of Romantic.

Adjective (1)

romantic (comparative more romantic, superlative most romantic)

(historical) Of a work of literature, a writer etc.: being like or having the characteristics of a romance, or poetic tale of a mythic or quasi-historical time; fantastic.
(obsolete) Fictitious, imaginary.
Fantastic, unrealistic (of an idea etc.); fanciful, sentimental, impractical (of a person).
- Mary sighed, knowing her ideals were far too romantic to work in reality.
- R. Jeeves: In my experience, ladies who spell Gladys with a W are seldom noted for their reliability, sir. It gives them romantic notions.
  B.W. Wooster: With a W, Jeeves? No, no, no, no. You spell it with a G.
  R. Jeeves: If I might draw your attention to the signature on the portrait, sir.
  B.W....1993 May 16, “Return to New York”, in Jeeves and Wooster, Series 3, Episode 6
Having the qualities of romance (in the sense of something appealing deeply to the imagination); invoking on a powerfully sentimental idea of life; evocative, atmospheric.
- But here is an artist. He desires to paint you the dreamiest, shadiest, quietest, most enchanting bit of romantic landscape in all the valley of the Saco.1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 1, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC
- Somehow she wasn't a real sister, but that only made her the more romantic.1897, Henry James, What Maisie Knew
Pertaining to an idealised form of love (originally, as might be felt by the heroes of a romance); conducive to romance; loving, affectionate.
- Their kiss started casually, but it slowly turned romantic.
- Contrary to the popular perception that love typically sparks from passion, a new study finds two-thirds of romantic relationships begin as long-term friendships.2021 July 20, Sarah Molano, “Most romantic relationships start as friendships, study finds”, in CNN
Antonyms:

platonic, non-sexual
Experiencing romantic attraction.
- Elsewhere, I describe that, in addition to an asexual identity, another salient identity for asexual individuals may be a romantic or aromantic identity, which designates an interest (or lack thereof) in monogamous, intimate relationships (Scherrer, 2008).2010, Kristin S. Scherrer, “Asexual Relationships: What Does Asexuality Have to Do with Polyamory?”, in Meg Barker, Darren Langdridge, editors, Understanding Non-Monogamies, New York, N.Y.; London...
- What is relatively “new” is the formation of communities around the common language of asexuality as it is understood today—communities in which new categories exist around the concept of asexuality or “being ace,” where people can discuss romantic or aromantic orientations in relation to or apart...2014, Karli June Cerankowski, Megan Milks, “Introduction: Why Asexuality? Why Now?”, in Asexualities: Feminist and Queer Perspectives (Routledge Research in Gender and Society), New York, N.Y....
Synonyms:

allo, alloromantic

Antonyms:

aromantic

Noun (1)

romantic (plural romantics)

A person with romantic character (a character like those of the knights in a mythic romance).
A person who is behaving romantically (in a manner befitting someone who feels an idealized form of love).
- Oh, flowers! You're such a romantic.
- Kaldor is an interesting lyricist, and it is easy to identify with her imagery. She's also an unabashed romantic of the most extreme kind, with lines like "For we can talk without speaking/we can see without light/I'll never leave you...."1985 December 14, Maida Tilchen, Gay Community News, volume 13, number 22, page 8

Adjective (2) capitalized: Romantic

Romantic (comparative more Romantic, superlative most Romantic)

Of or pertaining to Romance.
Of or pertaining to Romanticism.
(informal) Synonym of Romance.

Synonyms:

Romance

Noun (2) capitalized: Romantic

Romantic (plural Romantics)

An artist involved in the Romantic movement.

Also used as

romantic is also the alternative letter-case form of Romantic.

romantic meaning in Arabic, Persian and Vietnamese

romantic in Arabic

concerned with, or conducive to, romance and love: رُومَانْسِيّ rōmansiyy
person with romantic character: رُومَانْسِيّ rūmānsiyy

romantic in Persian

concerned with, or conducive to, romance and love: رومانتیک romântik
fantastic, idealistic: رومانتیک romântik
powerfully sentimental, evocative: رومانتیک romântik

romantic in Vietnamese

concerned with, or conducive to, romance and love: lãng mạn

Examples of romantic in a sentence

The main character's romantic interest will be played by a non-professional actor.
She melted when she saw the romantic message in the Valentine's Day card.
They stopped at a romantic overlook, shut off the engine, and parked.

All 40 example sentences with romantic

Synonyms of romantic

Antonyms

Forms of romantic

Adjective
comparative	more romantic
superlative	most romantic
comparative	more Romantic
superlative	most Romantic
alternative form (obsolete)	romantick
alternative form (obsolete)	Romantick
Noun
plural	romantics
plural	Romantics

Plural of romantic: romantics

Origin of romantic

From romant + -ic, or borrowed from Late Latin romanticus (“(of a poem) having qualities of a romance”). Compare French romantique, which is borrowed from English. Also compare Spanish romántico, Portuguese romântico, Italian romantico, Dutch romantisch, and German romantisch and Romantiker (“a composer of Romantic music”), all of which are borrowed from English or French.

Phrases with romantic

Words that rhyme with romantic

1 more rhymesFewer rhymes

womantic

Questions about romantic

What does romantic mean?: Romantic means of a work of literature, a writer etc.: being like or having the characteristics of a romance, or poetic tale of a mythic or quasi-historical time; fantastic.
What is romantic in Arabic?: Romantic in Arabic is رُومَانْسِيّ (rōmansiyy). See Romantic meaning in Arabic.
What part of speech is romantic?: Romantic can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce romantic?: Romantic is pronounced /ɹə(ʊ)ˈmæntɪk/ (UK).

Words near romantic in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: romantic (page history and authors); Romantic (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-romantic.ogg.

Cite this entry: “romantic.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/romantic. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.