A few people have asked me to do a list about meet cute tropes. Given my former day job at Hallmark Publishing and my love of making lists for writers, I have to admit I’m the perfect person to do it! But first, let’s talk about the “meet cute” definition.

Meet Cute – Meaning

The “meet cute” is usually a romcom movie term, but it pertains to novels, too—especially romance novels. It refers to the two main characters who are destined to fall in love encountering one another for the first time in a cute, fun, or straight-up funny way. These first encounters are frequently awkward. The two main characters may form mistaken impressions of one another. They may quibble over something. It’s usually a chance meeting—or is it fate?

Sometimes the “meet cute” is followed by an official introduction a short time later. To use a cliched example: that guy you ran into and spilled coffee on because you were rushing to your first day of work? Turns out he’s your new boss! If the “meet cute” is between two people who are supposed to be enemies or rivals—say, they’re lawyers on opposite sides of a case, or he’s the real estate developer whose plans she opposes—they’ll get along great and make a connection at the “meet cute,” only to realize their mistake later.

Let’s get into the list! You can straight-up steal these if you like them. I’m always delighted when people give me credit, but you’re not obligated. As always, you could come up with a lot of different variations for each one of these…and reading through the list will probably make you think of more ideas.

1. He’s putting up Christmas lights when the ladder falls away from him, leaving him swinging from the gutter. She runs over to prop up the ladder again.

2. His dog slips his collar and bounds over to her. She’s terrified of dogs.

3. She’s an exec overseeing a Christmas TV commercial, and a panicked live reindeer gets loose on the sound stage and barrels over toward her. An actor saves her. (This happened to me! Nobody saved me, though. I just dove behind a couch.)

4. She asks a woman to take a picture of her and her girlfriend (who’s about to break up with her) at a scenic spot.

5. He meets her when he’s only wearing a towel.

6. He’s there to pick up her sister for a date, but the sister is running very late and he winds up talking to her for an hour.

7. They’re both clients at a tattoo parlor, and one of them talks about how they hate a certain tattoo that, it turns out, the other one already has.

8. They’re both at a cafe, and she gets mad at the him for holding a loud phone conversation or Zoom conference while she’s trying to work.

9. At a mini golf course, she accidentally hits him with a ball…or a club.

10. At a paint store, one of them criticizes the other for their plan to paint all his rooms in different shades of gray.

11. He accidentally steps on the train of her wedding gown as she’s running, and the skirt tears off.

12. He came to town ready to be one of the groomsmen, not having gotten the message that the wedding had been called off.

13. She mistakes him for someone who mistreated her best friend and yells at him at length.

14. He joins her in singing a song at a karaoke bar to help out because she keeps forgetting the words.

15. She and her friends, possibly inebriated, break into his backyard to swim in his pool.

16. They’re both single parents, and they get in a fight when they both grab the same almost-sold-out toy at a store.

17. They meet on a Disney World ride when one of them gets scared and the other one talks them through it.

18. He goes somewhere private to have a sensitive or shocking phone conversation, and then realizes someone else is in earshot and heard the whole thing.

19. They argue about a topic as guests on a podcast or talk show.

20. One of them, camping alone, thinks they hear a bear outside the tent. It turns out to be a fellow camper.

21. One of them is on their way to a costume party, and the other person believes they actually are what they’re dressed as.

22. They meet when they’re both visiting loved ones in an assisted living facility.

23. She works at a furniture store, and she has to wake him up because he’s fallen asleep in a recliner.

24. They’re both jogging in the park and he gives her unsolicited advice on running.

25. She accidentally takes his suitcase at the baggage claim.

I hope you enjoyed these! And if you don’t write romance, the “meet cute” principle can also be applied to characters who become good friends…or enemies! If you write more dire or angsty fiction, it might also be fun to imagine friends or lovers meeting under unusual circumstances that are a lot more grim.

Thanks so much for reading, and happy writing!