Romeo

The word “Romeo” means a passionate, devoted boyfriend or lover. In plain terms, a man who plays the passionate lover — sometimes sincerely, sometimes just to seduce.

“Romeo” is pronounced ROH-mee-oh (/ˈɹoʊmioʊ/ in IPA).

Here is “Romeo” used in a sentence: “He showed up with roses, playing the romeo.”

“Romeo” is a noun.

“Romeo” is an uncommon word in modern English.

“Romeo” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a passionate, devoted boyfriend or lover.

Both senses of romeo describe a man's romantic behavior, but they point in opposite directions: one sense describes a passionate, devoted lover, while the other describes a man known for insincerely seducing women. Context determines which meaning is intended.

It depends on which sense is meant — describing someone as a devoted, passionate lover is generally positive, while calling someone a romeo in the sense of a womanizer is critical of insincere seduction.

When used generically to describe a type of man rather than a specific character, "romeo" is often written lowercase, though it is also frequently capitalized since it derives from a proper name.