romantasy

English

Etymology

Blend of romance +‎ fantasy. The term was popularized in 2020.

Pronunciation

Noun

romantasy (countable and uncountable, plural romantasies)

  1. (uncountable) Romantic fantasy, a subgenre of fantasy literature. [from 21st c.]
    • 2009 December 14, @xlittleshawty, Twitter‎[1], archived from the original on 18 July 2024:
      I want @lara_adrian 's book 7.! -.- sooo bad.! Best romantasy author ever.! (:
    • 2017 October 29, @loneIydreams, Twitter‎[2], archived from the original on 18 July 2024:
      Well that's the typical girl in books
      Especially romance and "romantasy"
    • 2023 November 11, Madison Darbyshire, “Hot stuff”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 9:
      [Sarah J.] Maas, whose sales jumped 51 per cent this past year and was largely credited by Bloomsbury for a 15 per cent increase in total revenue, is technically classified as sci-fi or “romantasy”.
    • 2024 February 17, Anna Nicolaou, quoting Morgan Entrekin, “‘Romantasy’ writer who could save publishing”, in FT Weekend, Opinion, page 9:
      Morgan Entrekin, chief executive of Grove Atlantic, the publisher behind last year's Booker prize-winner, Paul Lynch's Prophet Song, agrees. “The boom in [romantasy][sic] has been amazing,” he says.
    • 2025 August 20, Alexandra Alter, “How Harry Potter Fans Are Driving the Romantasy Trend”, in The New York Times‎[3], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
      Besides appealing to hordes of existing fans, “Alchemised” has another advantage: It taps into the raging appetite for romantasy, a subgenre that blends fantasy elements like magic, fairies and dragons with love, yearning and explicit sex. In a way, the romantasy explosion — driven by the success of blockbuster authors like Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yarros, whose series have sold millions upon millions of copies — stems from the legacy of popular young adult series like “Twilight” and “Harry Potter.”
      (Can we archive this URL?)
  2. (countable) A romantic fantasy. [from 20th c.]
    • 1928 May 16, Kaufmann’s, “Now—PINK Willow English Luncheon Ware”, in The Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Pa., →OCLC, page 24:
      Every hostess knows Blue Willow, the lovers fleeing across the bridge, the turtle doves and all the other romantasies . . .
    • 1940 August 25, Dent, “The holiday novel of the year”, in The Observer, 149th year, number 7,787, London, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2, column 6:
      Are we light-hearted? Yes—if we counter warning-weariness by reading Gerald Bullett’s romantasy: When the cat’s away
    • 1989 February 11, Marc, “Companions”, in The Gazette, Montreal, Que., →ISSN, →OCLC, page F-5, column 7:
      Won’t you be my Valentine “romantasy”.
    • 2024, Ana Bidault, Hannah Konetzki, Paule Ledesma, Vera Ma, Eeva Nikunen, Jenna Stark, “Color Happily Ever After”, in Romantasy: A Coloring Book, [Garden City, N.Y.]: Dover Publications, →ISBN, back cover:
      The perfect companion to your favorite book series, this coloring book filled with fire-breathing dragons, dagger-wielding warriors, and fierce and lovely fae will make all your romantasies come true.
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.