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Sentimental vs Romantic - What's the difference?

sentimental | romantic |

As adjectives the difference between sentimental and romantic

is that sentimental is characterized by sentiment, sentimentality or excess emotion while romantic is of a work of literature, a writer etc.: being like or having the characteristics of a romance, or poetic tale of a mythic or quasi-historical time; fantastic.

As a noun romantic is

a person with romantic character (a character like those of the knights in a mythic romance).

sentimental

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • characterized by sentiment, sentimentality or excess emotion
  • derived from emotion rather than reason; of or caused by sentiment
  • romantic

    • Derived terms

    * sentimentalism * sentimentality * sentimentally

    Quotations

    * 1885 : , *: Are you in sentimental mood? *: I'll sigh with you. * 1944 : , *: Gonna take a Sentimental Journey, *: Gonna set my heart at ease. *: Gonna make a Sentimental Journey, *: to renew old memories.

    Anagrams

    * ----

    romantic

    English

    Alternative forms

    * romantick (obsolete)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (obsolete) Fictitious, imaginary.
  • Fantastic, unrealistic (of an idea etc.); fanciful, sentimental, impractical (of a person).
  • Having the qualities of romance (in the sense of something appealing deeply to the imagination); invoking on a powerfully sentimental idea of life; evocative, atmospheric.
  • *
    • But here is an artist. He desires to paint you the dreamiest, shadiest, quietest, most enchanting bit of romantic landscape in all the valley of the Saco.
  • * 1897 , Henry James, What Maisie Knew :
    • Somehow she wasn't a real sister, but that only made her the more romantic .
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838, page=71, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= End of the peer show , passage=Finance is seldom romantic . But the idea of peer-to-peer lending comes close. This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms. Those that want to borrow are matched with those that want to lend.}}
  • Pertaining to an idealised form of love (originally, as might be felt by the heroes of a romance); conducive to romance; loving, affectionate.

    • Synonyms

    * (concerned with romance) nonplatonic, lovesome

    Antonyms

    * platonic, queerplatonic, nonromantic, unromantic, aromantic, antiromantic, nonsexual

    Derived terms

    * bromantic * romantically * romanticism * romanticness

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A person with romantic character (a character like those of the knights in a mythic romance).
  • A person who is behaving romantically (in a manner befitting someone who feels an idealized form of love).
    • Oh, flowers! You're such a romantic .

    Descendants

    * French: (l) * Italian: (l)