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

Paired with an all-leather ensemble, pants and pointed-toe pumps included, the hair screamed ’80s rom-com star, the curls falling toward her face in a single swift motion. — Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 7 Oct. 2026

Best known for playing Nancy Wheeler in Netflix’s Stranger Things, Dyer will next be seen starring alongside Kiernan Shipka and Cole Sprouse in Amazon MGM’s rom-com Goodbye Girl. — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 2 Oct. 2026

The author of bestselling rom-coms including her 2021 debut Better Than the Movies and the 2025 hit Fake Skating, Painter’s books already feature a certain cinematic flair. — Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 29 Sep. 2026

That didn’t stop Bateman from starring in a rom-com inspired by his wife’s iconic Star Wars character. — Emily Tannenbaum, Glamour, 25 Sep. 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