romantic love

Definition of Romantic Love

(noun) The strong emotional attachment between two or more people, typically used to describe people in a sexual relationship.

Romantic Love Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: ro·man·tic love

Audio Pronunciation

International Phonetic Alphabet

• American English – /roʊˈmæntɪk lʌv/
• British English – /rəʊˈmæntɪk lʌv/

Usage Notes

• Plural: romantic loves
• Some definitions of romantic love are characterized by the lack of commitment in a relationship.
• William Goode (1917–2003) studied romantic love in “The Theoretical Importance of Love” (1959).
• Romantic love as a basis for marriage instead of custom or for economic and political reasons is called affective individualism. The idea was popularized in The Family, Sex and Marriage in England, 1500–1800 (1977) by Lawrence Stone (1919–1999) and challenged by Alan Macfarlane (1941) in the Culture of Capitalism (1987).
• An aromantic lacks or has minimal romantic attraction, desire, or interest towards others.
• A derived term, bromance describes a close nonsexual friendship that exists between two men; usually activity-oriented.
• Also called:
  • romance
  • romantic attachment

Additional Information

• Family and Kinship Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
• Sex and Gender Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
• Word origin of “romantic” and “love” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com

Related Terms

• affective individualism
• individual
• marriage

---

Works Consulted

Henslin, James M. 2012. Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. 10th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Merriam-Webster. (N.d.) Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/).

Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).

Cite the Definition of Romantic Love

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “romantic love.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 25, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/romantic-love/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

romantic love. (2014). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/romantic-love/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “romantic love.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 25, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/romantic-love/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“romantic love.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/romantic-love/>.