Meaning & use
aro
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Meanings
nouncountable
A person who experiences little or no romantic attraction to others; short for aromantic.
Grammar: Informal and often used by the community: she is an aro.
Patterns
- be an aro
He told his friends he is an aro and not interested in dating.
Many aros enjoy deep friendships without romance.
She joined an online group for aros.
adjectivecomparableinformal
Describing someone who experiences little or no romantic attraction; short for aromantic.
Grammar: Used after a verb or before a noun: an aro person.
She came out as aro in college.
The novel features an aro character.
Word forms
| plural | aros |
|---|
Common combinations
- an aro person
- He is an aro person.
- aro and ace
- They are both aro and ace.
- come out as aro
- He came out as aro last year.
- aro community
- The aro community shares resources online.
- aro representation
- Fans want more aro representation in shows.
Synonyms and how they differ
- aromantic
- Aromantic is the full form and is more suitable in formal writing.
- single
- Single only means not in a relationship, not a lack of romantic attraction.
- asexual
- Asexual concerns sexual attraction, which is separate from romantic attraction.
Opposites
Word family
- aromantic adjective
- not feeling romantic attraction
- aromanticism noun
- the state of being aromantic
- aros noun
- plural of aro
Commonly confused: aro or ARO?
aro vs ARO
ARO can also be an abbreviation in other fields, but this sense is the common slang meaning.
Practice
Someone who does not feel romantic attraction might describe themselves with the informal short form ___.
Choose one answer.
Aro is short for aromantic. Ace is short for asexual, which is about sexual attraction, so it is the tempting wrong option.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “aro”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.