plural rom-coms
: romantic comedy
That's where the rom-com comes in, that wayward genre of sweet serendipity and forgivably thin plots set to rising music …Vogue
One of the film's pleasures is its movie within a movie, the rom-com "I Love You, I Love New York."Tad Friend
often used before another noun
a silly rom-com plot
Does anybody cry funnier than Segel does in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, the wonderful rom-com farce he not only starred in but wrote?Jim Windolf

Examples of rom-com in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Chad Michael Murray may be most famous for being an early 2000s heartthrob, having made his name in teen rom-coms like A Cinderella Story and Freaky Friday, as well as shows like Gilmore Girls and One Tree Hill, but these days the actor is happiest in the role of Dad. Erica Marrison, Peoplemag, 10 May 2024 Mother of the Bride offers a more novel take on the rom-com genre by centering a mother and daughter who are both looking for love. Max Gao, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 May 2024 Easton delivers a sparkling fake dating rom-com that is both delectably tropey and utterly believable. Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 9 May 2024 In the buzzy new rom-com, Hathaway stars as a 40 year-old art gallery owner and divorcee who falls in love with the 24 year-old heartthrob singer of the boy band August Moon, played by Nicholas Galitzine. Anna Tingley, Variety, 8 May 2024 And the ending of the movie is more rom-com than the book’s portrayal of the very real improbabilities of a 20-year-old boy-man having anything in common with a 40-year-old woman. Lyz Lenz, Rolling Stone, 7 May 2024 Maybe his daughters can convince him to take some more rom-coms too? Sam Reed, Glamour, 3 May 2024 Bella Hadid has returned from playing the starring role in Rodeo and Juliet–a sort of real-life rom-com where an international supermodel falls in love with a simple Texan cowman and realizes there is a life beyond New York, London, Paris and Milan–and is (more importantly) back in capri pants. Daniel Rodgers, Vogue, 2 May 2024 Dev Patel on rom-coms Fresh off the theatrical release of his feature directorial debut, revenge thriller Monkey Man, Dev Patel offered his take on a very different genre of film: romantic comedies. Megan McCluskey, TIME, 26 Apr. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rom-com.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1958, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of rom-com was in 1958

Dictionary Entries Near rom-com

Cite this Entry

“Rom-com.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rom-com. Accessed 14 May. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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