romantic

romantic — adjective

1. connected with love, sexual attraction, or the feelings that exist between two p

1.adjectiveA2
Definition

connected with love, sexual attraction, or the feelings that exist between two people who are in a close relationship.

Example

Haruto planned a romantic dinner for his girlfriend's birthday.

romantic + dinner: typical noun collocation

The couple watched a romantic film on their first date.

Common collocations
  • romantic dinner
  • romantic film
  • romantic evening
  • romantic gesture
  • romantic relationship
  • romantic getaway
Synonyms
  • loving

    highlights the affectionate feelings between people, more general and less tied to dating

  • amorous

    more formal and often suggests physical attraction

Grammar Patterns

romantic + noun

Usage Note

This is the most common meaning. It describes things connected with love between couples — dates, gifts, gestures, or settings. Distinguish from sense 4 (Romantic with capital R, referring to the art movement).

Common Mistakes

She gave me a romantic talk about my future.
She gave me an encouraging talk about my future.
'romantic' is used for love-related situations, not for general kindness or support.

2. describing a place, scene, or experience that feels beautiful and emotionally st

2.adjectiveB1
Definition

describing a place, scene, or experience that feels beautiful and emotionally stirring, as if from a storybook or distant era.

Example

The old castle had a romantic atmosphere that drew tourists from all over.

romantic + atmosphere: describing a place

Reema dreamed of a romantic trip through the mountains of Peru.

Common collocations
  • romantic setting
  • romantic landscape
  • romantic atmosphere
  • romantic view
  • romantic trip
Synonyms
  • picturesque

    focuses on visual beauty only, without the emotional or mysterious quality

  • enchanting

    suggests a magical, almost fairy-tale quality

Grammar Patterns

romantic + noun (place/view/setting)

Usage Note

This sense applies to scenery, places, or experiences — not to people or love directly. A 'romantic sunset' means a beautiful, emotionally moving sunset, not necessarily a love-related one. Common with travel and tourism contexts.

3. holding or expressing ideas, plans, or expectations that are not based on practi

3.adjectiveB2
Definition

holding or expressing ideas, plans, or expectations that are not based on practical reality and are therefore unlikely to succeed.

Example

Mira had a romantic idea of becoming a famous writer without doing any work.

romantic + idea: unrealistically optimistic plan

Dario's romantic plan to build a house by hand was completely impractical.

Common collocations
  • romantic notion
  • romantic view
  • romantic about
  • romantic vision
Synonyms
  • idealistic

    focuses on high principles and perfect visions, not necessarily negative

  • unrealistic

    more direct and negative, with less emotional warmth

  • dreamy

    informal; suggests pleasant but impractical thinking

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

romantic (about + noun/gerund)

Usage Note

Often used critically. When you call someone's idea or plan 'romantic', you suggest it is naive or ignores practical difficulties. Subject is often a plan, idea, view, or vision.

Common Mistakes

She is a romantic person who always arrives on time.
She is a reliable person who always arrives on time.
'romantic' does not mean 'responsible' or 'organized'.
He gave a romantic speech about the company's finances.
He gave an overly optimistic speech about the company's finances.
'romantic' about plans means unrealistic, not love-related.

4. relating to a European cultural movement of the late 1700s and early 1800s that

4.adjectiveB2
Definition

relating to a European cultural movement of the late 1700s and early 1800s that prized emotion, personal imagination, and wild landscapes over reason, order, and classical traditions.

Example

The museum has an excellent collection of Romantic paintings from the 1800s.

capital R: refers to the historical movement

Devika is writing a research paper on Romantic poetry for her literature class.

Common collocations
  • Romantic poetry
  • Romantic period
  • Romantic movement
  • Romantic composer
  • Romantic art
Synonyms
Antonyms
  • classical

    refers to the earlier movement that Romanticism reacted against

  • neoclassical

    emphasised order and reason, opposite to Romantic ideals

Grammar Patterns

the Romantic + noun (period/poetry/painters)

Usage Note

Often capitalised when referring directly to the historical movement (Romantic poetry, Romantic period). Not capitalised when the reference is looser. Distinguish from sense 1: the Romantic movement is about art and ideas, not love.

Common Mistakes

Shakespeare wrote Romantic plays.
Shakespeare wrote plays during the Renaissance.
Shakespeare lived before the Romantic movement (late 1700s-1800s). 'Romantic' in this sense refers to a specific historical period.

romantic — noun

Word family

  • romance
    nounA2
  • romantically
    adverbB1
  • romanticize
    verbB2
  • romanticism
    nounC1
  • romanticist
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/3

All four words describe a tendency to value emotion or imagination over practical reality, but they differ in tone and use. Romantic (in this sense) is the broadest: it describes someone whose hopes or plans ignore real-world limits, often with a mix of affection and gentle criticism — 'Her romantic view of village life ignored the lack of jobs.' Sentimental focuses on excessive or shallow emotion, especially nostalgia: a sentimental person is moved by memories or keepsakes, sometimes in a way others find cloying. Idealistic is more positive and intellectual: it describes someone driven by high principles and a vision of how the world should be, even if the vision is hard to achieve. Dreamy is the most informal and refers to a pleasant, unfocused state — a dreamy person may be lost in thought rather than actively pursuing an ideal. Example: 'He was too idealistic to compromise on ethics, too romantic to consider the budget, and a bit too dreamy to notice the time.'

romantic ↗sentimentalidealisticdreamy

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • a romantic at heart
  • romantic notion of

Prepositions

Etymology

FrenchEnglish

The word 'romantic' entered English in the mid-1600s from French 'romantique', which came from the Old French 'romanz' meaning 'a story written in the common language (not Latin)'. These stories, called romances, told tales of brave knights and heroic adventures. Over time, the word shifted from meaning 'like a romance story' to describing anything that stirs strong emotions, especially love, and later took on the sense of being imaginative or unrealistic. The capital-R Romantic movement of the 1800s took its name from this older idea of valuing emotion and imagination over reason.