pre-romanticism

noun

pre-ro·​man·​ti·​cism ˌprē-rō-ˈman-tə-ˌsi-zəm 

-rə-

variants or less commonly pre-Romanticism or Pre-Romanticism

: a cultural shift of the mid- to late-18th century that preceded and gave rise to Romanticism

… Pre-Romanticism was not really an intellectual movement per se. It is, rather, a label given by modern commentators to various developments that signal the dissolution of the Enlightenment paradigm and the emergence of new approaches.

—Walter Kudrycz

Throughout the eighteenth century, all over Europe, signs appeared of new interests and new feelings about neglected elements in life and art. This is sometimes called eighteenth-century romanticism or pre-romanticism.

—Jacques Barzun

pre-romantic

ˌprē-rō-ˈman-tik 

-rə-

adjective

or less commonly pre-Romantic or Pre-Romantic

pre-romantic music

a pre-Romantic composer/poet

the Pre-Romantic era

Each chapter has a hilarious heading, revealing Weldon's affinity with the pre-Romantic tradition of Sterne and Swift.

—Anne Harris

Word History

First Known Use

1895, in the meaning defined above