romantic escapism
Sentimental flight away
Romantic escapism is the tendency to retreat into idealized fantasies of love and passion as refuge from ordinary life.
The term often carries mild criticism—suggesting someone prefers daydreams or romance novels to dealing with real relationships: Her romantic escapism kept her from seeing who he actually was.
The phrase can also describe media that offers such fantasies: The film is pure romantic escapism.
- bodice ripperSteamy historical romance fiction
- gothic literatureDark, eerie prose tradition
- daydreamingIdle mental wandering
- fantasyImaginative mental wandering
- castle in the skyImpossible imagined goal
melodrama · fanfiction · nostalgia · fairy tales · true love's kiss · idealization · rose-colored glasses · projection · cultural myths · love songs · longing · poetry · sentimentality · wedding traditions · yearning · swept off feet · self-soothing · avoidance
romantic escapismbrutal honesty
Unsparing directness in speech
disillusionment · realism · gritty realism · groundedness · disenchantment
romantic escapismcynicism
Distrust of human sincerity
tough-mindedness · emotional restraint · astringency · pessimism · bleak outlook
romantic, escapism, romance, romances, romanced, romancing, romantics, romantically, romanticism