relates

present tense third-person singular of relate
1
as in communes
to form a close personal relationship she and I relate so well it's almost like we're siblings

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
3
as in pertains
to have a relation or connection how does your comment relate to what the rest of us have been talking about for the last hour?

Synonyms & Similar Words

4
as in associates
to think of (something) in combination most Americans probably relate tea to the United Kingdom and coffee to the U.S.

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of relates As the former Pentagon Papers whistleblower relates, all of us will be losers; sobering words that remain a catalyst for change. Randy McMullen, Mercury News, 16 Oct. 2025 Hanke relates that it was riddled with loopholes that handed the Banco Central de la República Argentina discretionary monetary powers. Shawn Tully, Fortune, 8 Oct. 2025 But, as the book relates, his love of Black music from his home town and elsewhere pulled him through. The New Yorker, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025 Swift’s involvement in the legal battle relates, in part, to suggestions from Lively that Baldoni altered a rooftop scene at the beginning of the film. Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 12 Sep. 2025 Toward the end of one documentary, Guy relates a tragic incident in which two démineurs from his team were killed while rearranging a crate of unexploded artillery shells. Michael Jerome Plunkett september 5, Literary Hub, 5 Sep. 2025 Organized in themes like the baby doll and the slip dress, the book relates fashion to culture, and offers a picture of an industry—and a city—that operated at a different pace. Vogue Runway, Vogue, 4 Sep. 2025 The film opens in the desolate Arctic, where Victor has chased his creation, and flashes back as Frankenstein relates his life’s story to a Danish sea captain whose ship is stuck in the ice. Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 30 Aug. 2025 The sense of grievance at Newcastle relates not just to the Isak saga but to Liverpool’s signing of Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt last month and even to the Merseyside club’s interest in Anthony Gordon last summer. Oliver Kay, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for relates
Verb
  • Jasanoff retraced some of Conrad’s epic journeys, which inspired me to redo the expedition Matthiessen describes in The Snow Leopard.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 14 Oct. 2025
  • That’s just one of the scares in store for the series, which Nicotero describes as a cross between Survivor and The Blair Witch Project.
    Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 14 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • The operation, in accordance with EU regulations on concentration, pertains mainly to the design, production and distribution of luxury goods.
    Luisa Zargani, Footwear News, 30 Sep. 2025
  • Trump’s order pertains only to applicable law — and no one statute targeting domestic terrorism exists.
    Zach Schonfeld, The Hill, 24 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Everyone associates that with us.
    Stephanie McNeal, Glamour, 8 Oct. 2025
  • Hunger can be another motivator, especially if your feline associates certain times or behaviors with food.
    Maria Azzurra Volpe, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Half-brothers Wirt and Greg certainly have their disagreements during their journey through the Unknown, but what bonds them in the end, like Lucy carrying her tired little brother Linus home to bed in Great Pumpkin, is fathomless love.
    Daniel Dockery, Vulture, 17 Oct. 2025
  • Since the split, sources told People that the actress bonds with their two daughters Sunday Rose, 17, and Faith Margaret, 14.
    Lea Veloso, StyleCaster, 1 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Just like 2024, the top three airports remain the same, which isn’t surprising, Taylor tells CNBC Make It.
    Celia Fernandez, CNBC, 19 Oct. 2025
  • From a vintage painting discovered in a shop to a child’s colorful sketch, each piece tells a story and adds warmth to your home.
    Elizabeth Fogarty, Better Homes & Gardens, 19 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • This philosophy applies to business owners seeking to develop managers and leaders within their organizations.
    Joe Boylan, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025
  • The platform reportedly applies principles borrowed from structural engineering in bridges and skyscrapers and uses a triangular honeycomb structure for superior stability and load distribution.
    Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 15 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • However, golf insider Dan Rapaport recently revealed that Woods himself identifies a detail from his past as one of the main causes.
    Julio Cesar Valdera Morales, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Oct. 2025
  • For context, the woman, who identifies herself as a 26-year-old with three siblings, explained that the family dynamic has always been complicated.
    Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 18 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • In his posthumous memoir, The Bigger Picture, Oscar-winning producer Jon Landau recounts the moment that all changed.
    Shania Russell, Entertainment Weekly, 14 Oct. 2025
  • The two form an unlikely bond as Molina recounts the plot of a Hollywood musical starring his favorite silver screen diva, Ingrid Luna (Lopez).
    Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 10 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Relates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/relates. Accessed 21 Oct. 2025.

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