relationship

American  

[ri-ley-shuhn-ship] / rɪˈleɪ ʃənˌʃɪp /

noun

• relationships
  plural

1. a connection, association, or involvement.

   Synonyms:

   kinship, alliance, dependence

2. connection between persons by blood or marriage.

   Synonyms:

   consanguinity, affinity

3. an emotional or other connection between people.

   the relationship between teachers and students.

4. a sexual involvement; affair.

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relationship British  

/ rɪˈleɪʃənʃɪp /

noun

1. the state of being connected or related

2. association by blood or marriage; kinship

3. the mutual dealings, connections, or feelings that exist between two parties, countries, people, etc

   a business relationship

4. an emotional or sexual affair or liaison

5. logic maths another name for relation

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Synonym Usage

Relationship, kinship refer to connection with others by blood or by marriage. Relationship can be applied to connection either by birth or by marriage: relationship to a ruling family. Kinship generally denotes common descent and implies a more intimate connection than relationship: the ties and obligations of kinship.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• prerelationship
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• relationships
  plural

Etymology

Origin of relationship

First recorded in 1735–45; relation + -ship

Explanation

When you're in a relationship, you're emotionally involved or at least connected in some way. If you're related to somebody — your parents, your aunts and uncles, your cousins — you share a family relationship with them. You can also use relationship to describe dealings between various groups, as “Members of the European Union have a relationship of economic interconnectedness,” or “A lease helps define your relationship with your landlord.” You'll also see relationship used with interactions that don't directly involve people. In many of these cases, the word relation is better. For example, in the sentence "We are always looking at the relationship between ticket price and sales," it would be better to use relation.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

relationship relationships

Jackson flags this exact relationship in her dissent, as the court’s new ruling Monday “lets another shoe drop in the Kafkaesque nightmare that our precedents have been steadily creating for certain plaintiffs.”

From Slate ● Aug. 25, 2026

Turkey is another large trading partner of Iran, according to ITC data, but it has a much friendlier relationship with the US than China.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

This shifting relationship isn’t all that surprising, according to Jeffrey Buchbinder, chief equity strategist at LPL Financial.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

Scientists have now tested that same relationship using masses and distances that were "inconceivable in Newton's day," Gallardo says.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026

Instead, the relationship of music and dance to everyday life is so close that the people have no need to conceptually separate the two.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

Those relationships need heat and vibrancy over time to stay relevant.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

"Care must build and not break the relationships that young people need, and this must be the new North Star," he added.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

As someone who is a commitment-phobe about nearly everything but relationships, I found this realization oddly consequential.

From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026

However, individual Roseburia species did not all show the same relationships.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 22, 2026

In a 2006 study, Tallal et al. suggest relationships between musical training, auditory processing, language, and literary skills.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

Related Words

• accord
• affair
• communication
• contact
• exchange
• liaison
• link
• marriage
• rapport
• relation
• tie