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 Stephen Greenblatt relates thrillingly in his new biography, Dark Renaissance, Marlowe led a brief and stormy life that deeply transformed the theater. Isaac Butler, The Atlantic, 3 Nov. 2025 The mandate relates just to the Sounders and does not include the Seattle Reign, the NWSL team that the Sounders bought last year in a $58 million deal. Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico.com, 30 Oct. 2025 Some of this reporting relates directly to the Fed’s mandates of maximum employment and stable inflation of around 2%. Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 29 Oct. 2025 But instead of simply reciting facts, Hellesen’s Eisenhower relates interesting stories that inform all of these experiences. Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Oct. 2025 Another legend relates that a woman and her children trekked into the mountains to escape enemies. Literary Hub, 22 Oct. 2025 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 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for relates
Verb
  • Beyond that, the complaint describes other people involved in the conspiracy who have also not been charged.
    David J. Lopez, CNN Money, 4 Nov. 2025
  • The report describes resale as a tool for brands to acquire new customers, control their brand narrative, and generate new revenue.
    Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 4 Nov. 2025
Verb
  • Tie the drink’s ingredients or theme into something that pertains to the couple’s interests or history.
    Metro Creative Services, Boston Herald, 19 Oct. 2025
  • The litigation pertains to government actions in many parts of the country.
    Mark Scolforo, Fortune, 18 Oct. 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
  • Rose tells Shaw that her community is concerned about sacred remains being disturbed.
    Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 10 Nov. 2025
  • In this intimate portrait of life during the exhilarating early days of the women’s liberation movement in Scandinavia in the 1970s, Pernille Ipsen tells the stories of the seven women who raised her, who were all part of the women’s movement in Denmark.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 Nov. 2025
Verb
  • Legal observers are also watching whether the Court’s conservative majority—which invoked the major questions doctrine to strike down Biden-era initiatives on student loans, pandemic mandates, and climate rules—applies the same standard to a Republican president.
    Robert Alexander, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2025
  • The same applies to Stanley Black & Decker — a big Wednesday gainer.
    Jeff Marks, CNBC, 5 Nov. 2025
Verb
  • For example, emotion AI (when AI identifies human emotions) can help people with difficulty identifying emotions make sense of their meeting partners on video conferencing platforms like Zoom.
    Rachel Curry, CNBC, 8 Nov. 2025
  • Álvarez specifically identifies Colombian President Duque and former President Alvaro Uribe as having knowledge of a secret meeting at a Marriott Hotel in Bogota where discussions included combating the ELN.
    Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 7 Nov. 2025
Verb
  • Thiongʼo novel in verse which recounts the Gikuyu creation story.
    Amber McBride, Literary Hub, 5 Nov. 2025
  • One story of the Desert Fathers recounts a sighting of a demon perched on the top of the monastery, busily scribbling down all the faults of the brothers within.
    JSTOR Daily, JSTOR Daily, 31 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Relates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/relates. Accessed 10 Nov. 2025.

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