Meanings
- slanglifestyleThe ship of characters Rumpelstiltskin and Belle from the television series Once Upon a Time.
Many Rumbelle stories take place after Belle and Rumple have already undergone a terrible loss, using the hurt/comfort trope to show how they cope afterwards.
2014, Christa M. Baxter, "The Challenge of Happily Ever After: How Once Upon a Time Fanfic Fairy Tales Model Strategies for Ordinary Life Challenges", thesis submitted to Brigham Young University, page 192 more examples
We'd obviously be bummed to lose Giles Matthey as Rumbelle's adorably evil baby boy, but at least there's still some hope that the couple can get their baby back instead of missing out on his entire life.
2017, Lindsay Macdonald, "'Once Upon A Time': All Hope Is Not Lost For Gideon", TV Weekly (Magic Valley Times-News), 29 January - 4 February 2017, page 12Fan websites indicate that the "Rumbelle" couple has become a fan-favorite specifically because viewers of the show relate to Rumple as an imperfect man and can identify with his rocky love relationship.
2019, Claudia Schwabe, Craving Supernatural Creatures: German Fairy-Tale Figures in American Pop Culture, unnumbered page
Origin
Cite this entry
Rumbelle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Rumbelle
“Rumbelle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Rumbelle. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Rumbelle,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Rumbelle.
Source: Rumbelle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.