romanticized 1 of 2

adjective

1
as in famed

Related Words

Relevance
2
as in idealized

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

romanticized

2 of 2

verb

past tense of romanticize
as in glamorized
to represent or think of as better than reality would warrant he romanticized what life in a small town would be like, only to be later disappointed when reality intruded

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of romanticized
Adjective
As Nora’s feelings for Thomas butt up against her wish for a full-time offer at Platen, her romanticized notions of the people and place come crashing down. — Natalia Winkelman, Variety, 20 Sep. 2026 Many of the perfumes launching this season are either direct remakes of once popular scents, or sentimental callbacks to a romanticized past. — Rhoda Feng, New Yorker, 4 Sep. 2026 One is a romanticized version that says the sauce is named after the duke’s lover. — Lauren David, Travel + Leisure, 22 Aug. 2026 His conduit to doing so was Ebbets Field, perhaps the most beloved ballpark ever and the home to one of baseball’s most romanticized teams, the Brooklyn Dodgers. — Kyle Newman, Denver Post, 30 July 2026 Georgia is the background for this Civil War and Reconstruction-era tale that follows Scarlett's fight to save her wealthy family's plantation, offering a romanticized perspective of slavery and plantation life. — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 25 June 2026 There is a romanticized version of independent filmmaking that people often imagine — a passionate artist with a great script, a group of believers, and a dream that somehow finds its way to the screen. — Dj Hale, IndieWire, 23 June 2026 Bebe is clear that the romanticized idea of going indie often overlooks the financial and operational realities behind it. — Desjah Altvater, Forbes.com, 11 June 2026 This is one of the most romanticized memories of the '90s, often touted on social media as the good ole days, when kids used their imaginations, resolved conflicts on their own, and made their own fun unsupervised. — Sarah Scott, Parents, 10 June 2026
Verb
Okay, maybe that’s a bit romanticized, but that’s what this trip is all about. — Ile-Ife Okantah, Vulture, 21 Sep. 2026 The 1930 release included contributions from Warren and Ransom among others who would later distance themselves from a racist and romanticized view of the rural South held by many agrarians. — ABC News, 31 Aug. 2026 War is frequently romanticized at Revolutionary War battlefields. — Jennifer Janofsky, The Conversation, 28 Aug. 2026 The fact that such men are in short supply, and that this romanticized myth didn’t even remotely compare with the lives such men actually lived, is of little concern to today’s masculinists. — Michael Kimmel, Time, 15 Aug. 2026 YouTube | Overcast | Pocket Casts Gen Z has romanticized the technology of the ’90s—or the era’s lack of it. — Jinae West, The Atlantic, 13 Aug. 2026 The cyclospora outbreak isn’t the first time an illness has been romanticized as a way to achieve rapid weight loss. — Oona Hanson, CNN Money, 25 July 2026 Hollywood has long romanticized the era, and there’s a reason these references continue to resonate. — Lauren Valenti, InStyle, 17 July 2026 As early as the 1930s, Levi’s advertisements romanticized cowboys, the Wild West, the rugged frontier lifestyle. — Steven Johnson, Washington Post, 14 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for romanticized
  1. famed
  2. idealized
  3. glamorized
  4. storied
  5. legendary
  6. mythical
  7. fabled
Adjective
  • Ahead of rocking the Pond with its classic hits, the famed norteño band brought its signature sound and activism to NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert.
    — Carlos De Loera, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The reveal comes a little more than a month after the famed costume designer passed away at 87.
    — Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of famed
Adjective
  • Surgeons warn that, when this idealized version of yourself becomes the benchmark, even entirely normal features can begin to look like flaws in need of fixing.
    — Amy O’Brien, Vogue, 13 Oct. 2026
  • The film is adorned with musical and aesthetic touches that allude to an idealized past of knights, princesses, kings and queens.
    — Jourdain Searles, HollywoodReporter, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of idealized
Verb
  • Beyond post-pandemic freedom, the recent rave explosion can also be credited to BRAT, Charli XCX’s 2024 album that glamorized raving as an It Girl activity.
    — Kiana Mickles, Pitchfork, 15 July 2026
  • The plot is high-class soap opera, offered at a time when most composers were avoiding any subject that glamorized the bourgeoisie.
    — Russell Platt, New Yorker, 20 May 2026
Definition of glamorized
Adjective
  • The New York Athletic Club is one of the most storied institutions in the history of American sports, and its athletes have won 321 Olympic medals, dating back to the first modern Games in 1896.
    — Sara Germano, Sportico.com, 13 Oct. 2026
  • The city had a large Black population, a storied history of abolition and an abundance of Black institutions, yet racial discrimination was still endemic.
    — Timothy Welbeck, The Conversation, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of storied
Adjective
  • The awards were handed out tonight at an imposing ceremony at Rio de Janeiro’s legendary Odeon cinema.
    — Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 12 Oct. 2026
  • His inner circle included the likes of Madonna, actress Zoë Kravitz and Connor Storrie, models Kate Moss and Anja Rubik, singers Rosé and Charlotte Gainsbourg, plus such legendary figures from the days of Yves as Catherine Deneuve and Betty Catroux.
    — Miles Socha, Footwear News, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of legendary
Adjective
  • Waller is one of the NFL’s few mythical figures — one whose story precedes his stats, whose name supersedes his acclaim.
    — Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 15 Oct. 2026
  • With the season’s final two episodes not provided to critics, there’s no way to say yet whether The Lowdown achieves that mythical outcome of all mystery seasons, the Finale That Pulls It All Together.
    — Kathryn VanArendonk, Vulture, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of mythical
Adjective
  • Then, in 1882, by which time the culture of the European Grand Tour amongst wealthy British and North American youth of rank had peaked, the convent finally transmogrified into a hotel (like other convents along this fabled coast).
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Oct. 2026
  • For his memorial on June 19, mourners gathered in Frankfurt’s Paulskirche, the fabled site of Germany’s nineteenth-century attempt at liberal revolution.
    — Peter E. Gordon, The New York Review of Books, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of fabled

Browse Nearby Words

romanticize
romanticized
romanticizes
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Romanticized.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/romanticized. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 16
See More

Popular

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All