as in cousin
a person connected with another by blood or marriage
it's always fun to see all your relatives at a big family gathering
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
1
as in comparative
being such only when compared to something else
after being crammed into a one-bedroom apartment, they lived in relative comfort in a two-bedroom house
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in relevant
having to do with the matter at hand
I don't need the whole story, just the details that are relative to the case
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Recent Examples of relative
Mia Galuppo, HollywoodReporter, 16 Oct. 2025
One of the best parts to it are the recollections from his Little Italy friends and relatives, many of whom served as inspiration for his sometimes unsavory characters.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 16 Oct. 2025
Mark Critchley, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2025
How does the relative length of our haunting reflect our collective moral strengths and weaknesses?
—Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for relative
Noun
The Christophers sees the estranged relatives (Gunning, Corden) of a famous artist (McKellen) enlist the help of a struggling artist (Coel) to steal and complete the artist’s unfinished works.
—Mia Galuppo, HollywoodReporter, 16 Oct. 2025
One of the best parts to it are the recollections from his Little Italy friends and relatives, many of whom served as inspiration for his sometimes unsavory characters.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 16 Oct. 2025
Adjective
Lammens returned to Dender and began to catch the eye of scouts, though his relative lack of experience raised questions.
—Mark Critchley, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2025
How does the relative length of our haunting reflect our collective moral strengths and weaknesses?
—Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for relative
Recent Examples of Synonyms for relative
Noun
-
Francesca and her new husband Sir John Kilmartin are headed to his estate in Scotland with Eloise and his cousin, Michaela Stirling (a character gender swapped from the books).—
Kathleen Newman-Bremang,
Refinery29,
14 Oct. 2025
-
Diane Keaton gave you the language but your cousin gave you safety.—
Lydia Patrick,
MSNBC Newsweek,
14 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
One of the boldest attempts was undertaken by Michael Witzel, a comparative mythologist at Harvard.—
Manvir Singh,
New Yorker,
13 Oct. 2025
-
Using comparative molecular biology with human cGAS – which actually inhibits DNA repair – the scientists found that the naked mole-rat's enzyme has four key changes that facilitate the important work that extends their lifespan and keeps them healthy and disease-free for a remarkably long time.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
12 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Nominations can only be submitted by individuals who meet strict eligibility criteria, including national lawmakers, university professors in relevant disciplines, and past laureates of the Peace Prize.—
Shane Croucher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Oct. 2025
-
The committee evaluates nominations from qualified proposers—such as heads of state, national legislators, professors in relevant disciplines, past laureates, and directors of foreign policy or peace institutes.—
Miranda Jeyaretnam,
Time,
10 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Putin himself has previously suggested that the United States supplying long-range missiles to Ukraine will seriously damage relations between Moscow and Washington.—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
12 Oct. 2025
-
The confrontations, while risking a broader conflict, also pose a geopolitical opportunity for India, which has cautiously sought to improve relations with the Taliban, perhaps filling the diplomatic hole left by its regional rival, Pakistan, analysts said.—
J.D. Capelouto,
semafor.com,
12 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
The notional $1,000- $2,000 tariff-revenue checks may be comparable in dollar amount to Biden’s stimulus checks, but Covid dollars and today’s dollars are much different due to the high inflation that’s occurred in recent years, outpacing wage growth.—
Nino Paoli,
Fortune,
12 Oct. 2025
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By carefully analyzing the subtle interactions of these signals, the technology can generate a highly detailed and accurate representation of a person’s presence, posture, and movement that is comparable to a camera snapshot, but constructed entirely from radio waves.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
11 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
The Council said McCabe is authorized to continue carrying out the duties and responsibilities of the Office of the Controller in accordance with all applicable laws, policies, and procedures to safeguard the nation’s financial integrity and ensure continuity of government operations.—
Arlyssa D. Becenti,
AZCentral.com,
10 Oct. 2025
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Dolan’s new contract also provides for an annual target bonus opportunity equal to at least three times her actual salary paid during the applicable year.—
Todd Spangler,
Variety,
10 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Orange County has paid more than $39 million worth of settlements in the almost year since the Airport fire broke out and destroyed more than 100 structures, according to county officials.—
Michael Slaten,
Oc Register,
20 Aug. 2025
-
Despite arguably kicking off the trend of internet shutdowns a decade ago with an almost year-long blackout in the western province of Xinjiang, China is not a frequent offender.—
James Griffiths,
CNN,
9 Jan. 2020
Cite this Entry
“Relative.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/relative. Accessed 19 Oct. 2025.
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