23 Slang Terms To Help You Understand Modern Romance Fiction

1. Alpha 
2. ARC 
3. Babygirl
4. BBW
5. Behind Closed Doors
6. Book Boyfriend/Girlfriend
7. Cinnamon Roll
8. Clean Romance
9. CW
10. DNF
11. Enemies-to-Lovers
12. Fake Relationship
13. Forced Proximity
14. Friends-to-Lovers
15. FMC/MMC
16. Golden Retriever/Black Cat
17. Heat Level
18. HEA/HFN
19. Himbo
20. Insta-Love
21. JPO
22. NOTP/OTP
23. Romantasy

Romance has always been a popular genre choice for those who love to escape into the arms of dreamy and transportive imaginary worlds where, more often than not, every storyline ends with the protagonist getting swept off into the sunset in the arms of their one true love.

In recent years, the genre has taken on a new life on the internet, with romance novels exploding in popularity on TikTok’s book-loving community, BookTok, in particular. That rise has been accompanied by a host of slang terms, some older than others, which might seem like a foreign language to those outside of the online book community.

Whether you’re a devoted romance reader or just starting to dip your toes into the realm of spicy enemies-to-lovers romantasy, these terms will shine a light on some of the most popular tropes of the modern romance fiction realm—and they might even inspire you to go and write your own story.

Alpha 

The term alpha might sometimes refer to the leader of a wolf pack or the youngest generation currently using the internet, but in the realm of romance fiction, it usually describes a take-charge character who is often a leader or a dominant figure in some way. This character can be controlling, protective, or somewhere in the middle, and alphas are the romantic love interest in modern romance books. They’re usually male, though not always, and sometimes they’re “alphaholes,” or arrogant and even violent characters—at least until the protagonist teaches them how to love.

ARC 

This term means advanced reader copy. Many modern romance book-lovers receive these for free in exchange for honest reviews. While not solely reserved for romance fiction, ARCs are often how romance novels find their audiences, and you’ll often see the term floating around the online romance-fiction-loving world.

Babygirl

Babygirl is an endearing term for a male character who is extremely adorable, lovable, and attractive. In the realm of BookTok, calling a character “babygirl” is a form of the highest praise.

BBW

The acronym BBW stands for big beautiful woman. This term isn’t exclusively used in the romance fiction realm and has been around for decades, but it’s often placed in the descriptions of books that feature larger, curvier women as their protagonists.

Behind Closed Doors

This term describes a romance book where all the explicit content takes place off the page, meaning that the book is entirely free of graphic descriptions of intimacy. It doesn’t mean that no intimacy happens, however—just that it’s tastefully implied.

Book Boyfriend/Girlfriend

A book boyfriend or book girlfriend is a term that describes a character in a book who readers feel a deep connection to and may often fantasize about being in a relationship with. From Xaden Riorson in Fourth Wing to Rhysand in A Court of Thorns and Roses, these characters are essentially fictional crushes that readers wish they could meet in real life—maybe without all the violence, dragons, and near-death experiences the protagonists actually have to face in the novels, of course.

Cinnamon Roll

A cinnamon roll describes a character who is extremely kind, gentle, vulnerable, and benevolent. This term is most often used to describe male heroes in books who are total sweethearts and who deeply love and support their partners unconditionally. The term has been linked to a 2014 Onion headline that read, “Beautiful Cinnamon Roll Too Good For This World, Too Pure.” 

Clean Romance

A clean romance is a romance book that’s free from all explicit content—don’t expect any spicy scenes at all here, even implied ones or hints. These books usually focus more on character development rather than physical intimacy. 

CW

This means content warning. It’s often used to signify that the book has some kind of content that some readers may not want to engage with, ranging from explicit sexual content to violence, abuse, or other topics in that realm.

DNF

This acronym stands for did not finish. Romance readers often use it in their reviews to describe books that simply didn’t draw them in enough for them to actually make it to the end of the story.

Enemies-to-Lovers

Enemies-to-lovers romances follow characters who start out hating each other but slowly realize that underneath that hatred, there’s a burning passion for each other waiting to be unearthed. From Holly Black’s The Cruel Prince to Emily Henry’s Beach Read, this is an immensely popular and often satisfying romance trope that typically involves a solid character arc in addition to some fiery chemistry.

Fake Relationship

A fake relationship plot usually features a scenario where characters are forced to pretend to be together for one reason or another. Of course, this often leads to them developing actual feelings for each other. This trope often naturally overlaps with friends-to-lovers or enemies-to-lovers narratives.

Forced Proximity

A forced proximity romance follows characters who somehow find themselves with no choice but to spend a lot of time together, usually in a small and enclosed location—think two people trapped in an elevator, or forced to stay in a cabin that of course just happens to only have one bed. This often pushes characters into intense situations that can lead to heightened animosity, increased chemistry, or, typically, both.

Friends-to-Lovers

A friends-to-lovers story is what it sounds like: two best buds who eventually realize that all this time, they’ve been soulmates. It's a sweet but often complicated narrative that is the basis for many popular romance novels, including Emily Henry's hit People We Meet On Vacation.

FMC/MMC

FMC stands for female main character. Its opposite is MMC, which means male main character. MC can simply mean main character.

Golden Retriever/Black Cat

The golden retriever archetype describes a character who is extremely upbeat, well-behaved, loving, and devoted. It is frequently contrasted against the black cat archetype, which describes a character who might be more introverted, prickly, opinionated, and moody. Naturally, these two personalities often make for an interesting romantic pairing.

Heat Level

Heat level refers to the amount of explicit or sexy content featured in a romance novel. This term is used interchangeably with spice level or spiciness, and it warns readers exactly what they’re getting into when they enter into a new story.

HEA/HFN

HEA is an acronym that refers to happily ever after—also known as the ending of all the classic Disney films. Alternatively, HFN refers to happy for now, which describes an ending that finds the characters content to be together for the moment, but not necessarily certain that they will be together permanently. The majority of romance novels end with one of these conclusions.

Himbo

A himbo is a character archetype that describes a male character who simply isn’t the brightest. These characters can sometimes be adorably dim-witted, or frustratingly so, and they’re also often handsome or appearance-obsessed. 

Insta-Love

Insta-love is a trope in romance books that describes the tendency characters in romance novels have to immediately fall head-over-heels in love with one another, often before the reader has even learned much about them. Generally, this term is used in a negative way by critics who cite the fact that these characters often have almost no time to actually get to know one another before they declare their eternal devotion to each other.

JPO

This acronym can refer to jealous, possessive, and obsessive, though sometimes it simply appears as JP or another variant of the three letters. It describes a romance trope where one character is extremely controlling in some way, and it often blurs the line between romantic levels of extreme devotion and toxic, abusive behavior.

NOTP/OTP

The acronym NOTP stands for “not one true pairing,” and it describes characters who may be in a relationship or have chemistry in a romance book but who, ultimately, are not each others’ true soulmates. Often, the NOTP characters have to separate so that the protagonist can find their OTP—or “one true pairing,” the ultimate end goal of most romance novels.

Romantasy

Romantasy is a genre that blends elements of romance and fantasy. While this genre has technically been around for centuries, it has become extremely popular on BookTok and online thanks to books like A Court of Thorns and Roses, which place romantic heroines into worlds of violence and magical creatures—but ultimately still have romance at their core.