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

Written by and starring Joel Kim Booster, the Hulu rom-com is a modern take on Pride and Prejudice, inspired by a real-life trip to New York's Fire Island. —Andrea Wurzburger, PEOPLE, 29 Nov. 2025

To me, rom-coms give the same vibes, though different, as a really cute Christmas movie. —Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 28 Nov. 2025

There's plenty of original fare, too, like a Minka Kelly holiday rom-com and a Joel Edgerton lumberjack movie. —Brian Truitt, USA Today, 21 Nov. 2025

For her first ever rom-com, Minka Kelly hit the trifecta. —Leigh Nordstrom, Footwear News, 21 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1958, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for rom-com

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