rom-com

noun

ˈräm-ˌkäm 

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

Switch is described as a body swap rom-com centered on a Black woman and a white man who have to walk a week in each other’s lives. — Zac Ntim, Deadline, 21 July 2026

Romance is among the few genres growing in sales, and readers are increasingly shifting away from rom-coms toward romances with darker themes, according to Circana BookScan. — Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 18 July 2026

Barroso and Damon’s rom-com worthy love story began with a spontaneous meeting at a bar in Miami, Florida back in 2003. — Emma Banks, InStyle, 17 July 2026

Other upcoming projects include the rom-coms Love Language and Red, White & Royal Wedding. — Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 16 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1958, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for rom-com

• aplomb
• balaam
• begam
• cocom
• embalm
• islam
• pogrom
• salaam
• sitcom
• balm
• bom
• bomb