relative to

Idioms  

1. Correspondent or proportionate to, as in Relative to its size, Boston has a great many universities, or It's important to get all the facts relative to the collision. Another form of this idiom is, meaning “in reference or with regard to,” as in Demand is high in relation to supply, or That argument changes nothing with relation to our plans for hiring workers. The usages with relative date from the second half of the 1700s, those with relation from the late 1500s.

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Example Sentences

Precision–recall analysis examines a similar trade-off, asking how accurate the system’s alerts are relative to the number of incidents it successfully detects.

From Salon • May 12, 2026

Some researchers have argued that predictive policing systems do not increase the likelihood that racial minorities will be arrested more often relative to traditional policing practices.

From Salon • May 12, 2026

That does mark a move up in the timing relative to the previous quarterly survey, which suggested the Bank of Canada would be on hold until the second quarter of next year.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 11, 2026

As tech stocks go, so goes the market—thank the overwhelming weight of the tech sector relative to everything else.

From Barron's • May 8, 2026

Or quell the loneliness he felt being moved from one relative to the next?

From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario