noun
romanticism
roh-MAN-tih-sih-zuhm
noun
1
A quality of idealized emotion, imagination, or nostalgia in a person, idea, or artwork.
"There's a certain romanticism in the idea of quitting your job to sail around the world."
2
The artistic and intellectual movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries that prized emotion, nature, and imagination over strict reason and classical order.
"Romanticism produced some of the most emotionally intense poetry in the English language."
"Painters of the Romanticism era often depicted dramatic, wild landscapes."
How to Use Romanticism
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishEither a dreamy, idealistic outlook, or (capitalized) the historical movement in art and literature that favored emotion over reason.
Common mistake
Capitalize it as "Romanticism" when referring to the specific historical movement, lowercase when using the general sense of "idealized feeling."
Word Forms
romanticisms plural
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There's a certain _____ in the idea of quitting your job to sail around the world.
Etymology
Formed from romantic plus the suffix -ism, marking it as a named movement or ideology.