fake dating
Staged relationship act
Fake dating is a romantic fiction trope where two characters pretend to be in a relationship—to fool family, make an ex jealous, or fulfill some social obligation—only to develop genuine feelings for each other.
The appeal lies in watching the performance become real: It started as fake dating for his sister's wedding, but somewhere along the way they forgot to stop pretending.
- pretendAct as though
- romanceLove and its excitement
- tropeRecurring narrative device
- friends to loversRelationship progressing from platonic to romantic
- arrangementOrdered configuration or agreement
marriage of convenience · charade · scheme · boyfriend · girlfriend · meet cute · ruse · contract · feelings · real · jealousy · pretense · convenient · enemies · lovers · slow burn · wedding · public display
- Holiday tropesChristmas stories, small towns, holiday romance, secret Santa, miracle stories
- romancelove story, amor, love, boyfriend, courting
- rom-comrom-com, romantic comedy, meet cute, meet-cute, love triangle
- rom-comsrom-com, romantic comedy, romcom, Pretty Woman, meet-cute
- romance fictionlove stories, romance novel, romance novels, contemporary romance, romantic fiction
- Asian DramasK-drama, J-drama, Korean drama, Japanese drama, Chinese drama
fake datingtrue love
Authentic romantic connection
natural attraction · committed relationship · true feelings · love match · soulmates
fake datingmarriage
Formal union between partners
engagement · committed relationship · domestic partnership · civil union · wedlock
fake, fakes, faked, faking, faker, fakers, date, dates, dated