romanticism

ro·man·ti·cism | \ rō-ˈman-tə-ˌsi-zəm

, rə- \

Definition of romanticism

1 often capitalized

a(1) : a literary, artistic, and philosophical movement originating in the 18th century, characterized chiefly by a reaction against neoclassicism and an emphasis on the imagination and emotions, and marked especially in English literature by sensibility and the use of autobiographical material, an exaltation of the primitive and the common man, an appreciation of external nature, an interest in the remote, a predilection for melancholy, and the use in poetry of older verse forms

(2) : an aspect of romanticism

b : adherence to a romantic attitude or style

2 : the quality or state of being romantic

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Examples of romanticism in a Sentence

Try not to discourage the romanticism of college students.

Recent Examples on the Web This taste for despair was part of both men’s romanticism, and, in Hitler’s case, directly responsible for the horrific last months of a war already lost. — Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, "The Field Guide to Tyranny," 16 Dec. 2019 His reading served as a reminder of how essential maintaining shape and momentum are in performances of this revolutionary manifesto of romanticism. — John Von Rhein, chicagotribune.com, "Blomstedt brought a too-familiar bit of CSO repertory to life," 2 Mar. 2018 His namesake brand is inspired by the Elizabethan era and contains dark romanticism elements. — Dave Quinn, PEOPLE.com, "Bravo's Project Runway Is Back for Season 18! Meet the New Contestants," 4 Dec. 2019 Adding the cliché of Edward Hopper desolate romanticism as a visual style doesn’t help. — Armond White, National Review, "Motherless Brooklyn’s Retro Liberalism," 13 Nov. 2019 Lopez’s gift is her ability to push the characters and their bedroom antics to extremes without ever losing the intense heat and lush romanticism of her writing. — Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, "Hot Stuff: Five new romance novels are all about second chances," 3 Nov. 2019 But romanticism can no longer hide that NCAA football and basketball are billion-dollar operations, where $8 million-a-year coaches are the stars. — Shawn Windsor, Detroit Free Press, "New NCAA rules could help MSU, Michigan compete with Ohio State, Alabama | Opinion," 31 Oct. 2019 Along with the hard-headed reasons that some voted to leave, there was a lot of romanticism about the United Kingdom claiming back its status as a sovereign nation. — Luke Mcgee, CNN, "The UK will never get the US trade deal it wants," 6 Nov. 2019 Dreamlike black-and-white cinematography that pivots between aspect ratios, brushed with a jazzy score, elegantly suits the biting romanticism of this bite-size reverie. — Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, "Review: Drug-fueled romp ‘Charlie and Hannah’s Grand Night Out’ trips the night fantastic," 26 Sep. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'romanticism.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

4 Jan 2020

Cite this Entry

“Romanticism.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/romanticism?pronunciation&lang=en_us&dir=r&file=romant03. Accessed 19 January 2020.

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