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relative
[ rel-uh-tiv ]
noun
- a person who is connected with another or others by blood or marriage.
- something having, or standing in, some relation or connection to something else.
- something dependent upon external conditions for its specific nature, size, etc. ( absolute ).
- Grammar. a relative pronoun, adjective, or adverb.
adjective
- considered in relation to something else; comparative:
the relative merits of democracy and monarchy.
- existing or having its specific nature only by relation to something else; not absolute or independent:
Happiness is relative.
- having relation or connection.
- having reference or regard; relevant; pertinent (usually followed by to ):
to determine the facts relative to an accident.
- correspondent; proportionate:
Value is relative to demand.
- (of a term, name, etc.) depending for significance upon something else:
“Better” is a relative term.
- Grammar.
- noting or pertaining to a word that introduces a subordinate clause of which it is, or is a part of, the subject or predicate and that refers to an expressed or implied element of the principal clause (the antecedent), as the relative pronoun who in He's the man who saw you or the relative adverb where in This is the house where she was born.
- noting or pertaining to a relative clause.
relative
/ ˈɛəɪ /
adjective
- having meaning or significance only in relation to something else; not absolute
a relative value
- prenominal (of a scientific quantity) being measured or stated relative to some other substance or measurement Compare absolute
relative density
relative humidity
- prenominal comparative or respective
the relative qualities of speed and accuracy
- postpositivefoll byto in proportion (to); corresponding (to)
earnings relative to production
- having reference (to); pertinent (to)
matters not relative to the topic under discussion
- grammar denoting or belonging to a class of words that function as subordinating conjunctions in introducing relative clauses. In English, relative pronouns and determiners include who, which, and that Compare demonstrative interrogative
- grammar denoting or relating to a clause ( relative clause ) that modifies a noun or pronoun occurring earlier in the sentence
- (of a musical key or scale) having the same key signature as another key or scale
C major is the relative major of A minor
noun
- a person who is related by blood or marriage; relation
- a relative pronoun, clause, or grammatical construction
Derived Forms
- ˈپԱ, noun
Other Word Forms
- ԴDz···پ noun adjective
- ԴDz···پ·ly adverb
- ԴDz···پ·ness noun
- ܲ···پ adjective
- ܲ···پ·ly adverb
Word History and Origins
Word History and Origins
Origin of relative1
Idioms and Phrases
- it’s all relative. it's all relative ( def ).
Example Sentences
Like their earlier counterparts, they had fled the communist regime, most of them drawn by news of relatives who had chosen to relocate there.
Prosecutors have dropped some of the charges against an Australian woman accused of killing three relatives and seriously injuring another with a toxic mushroom lunch.
Another poll, by Ipsos/Reuters, found that Trump’s approval rating on the economy had fallen to 37% — a striking figure on a policy that “has long been one of his relative strengths,” Kiley said.
The shortage is tied largely to the lower pay and relative lack of prestige associated with primary care, making recruitment difficult.
Liverpool's relative stroll towards a 20th title carries a heavy warning signal to the rivals who must now attempt to knock the Premier League crown off their heads next season.
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Related Words
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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