romantic subplot
Secondary love story
A romantic subplot is a secondary storyline involving love or attraction that runs alongside a story's main plot.
Common in novels, films, and television, it adds emotional stakes or character depth without being the central focus: The action movie had a predictable romantic subplot between the hero and the scientist.
Often formulaic—two characters meet, face obstacles, end up together—the romantic subplot can feel obligatory in genres where audiences expect it.
- loveIntense fond attachment
- love interestRomantic focus of a story
- triangleThree-sided plane figure
- tensionStretched or strained state
- chemistryStudy of substances' interactions
sexual tension · flirtation · longing · kiss · first kiss · passion · attraction · love at first sight · sidekick · banter · heartache · jealousy · forbidden · star-crossed lovers · unrequited · trope · swoon · pining
- Romance Filmsrom-com, romcom, love story, chick flick, date movie
- Elizabethan comedyTwelfth Night, The Comedy of Errors, A Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It, The Merchant of Venice
- intimacykiss, hug, embrace, closeness, snuggling
- cozy mysteryamateur sleuth, village setting, nosy neighbor, female protagonist, animal companion
- romancelove story, amor, love, boyfriend, courting
- Zombieszombie, zombies, undead, walkers, walker
romantic, subplot, romance, romancing, romanced, romances, romanticism, romanticist, romanticize