ratio
Americannoun
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ratios
plural
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the relation between two similar magnitudes with respect to the number of times the first contains the second.
the ratio of 5 to 2, written 5:2 or 5/2.
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proportional relation; rate.
the ratio between acceptances and rejections.
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Finance. the relative value of gold and silver in a bimetallic currency system.
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Sometimes the ratio (on Twitter) the proportion of replies to a tweet compared to the combined number of retweets and likes, where a high ratio usually indicates a barrage of negative replies: LOL, then I added the reply, “Don't mind me, I'm just here for the ratio.”
How is the Twitter ratio any different from other kinds of outraged cybermobs?
LOL, then I added the reply, “Don't mind me, I'm just here for the ratio.”
verb (used with object)
noun
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a measure of the relative size of two classes expressible as a proportion
the ratio of boys to girls is 2 to 1
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maths a quotient of two numbers or quantities See also proportion
Usage
What else does ratio mean? On the social media platform Twitter, a ratio, or getting ratioed, is when replies to a tweet vastly outnumber likes or retweets. This means people are objecting to the tweet and considering its content bad.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of ratio
First recorded in 1630–40; from Latin ratiō “reckoning, account, calculation,” equivalent to rat-, past participle of rērī “to believe, think, imagine” + -iō, noun suffix from verb stems; see -tion
Explanation
A ratio is the relationship in quantity or degree between two things: “The ratio of men to women on the construction site was ten to one.” This means there were ten men present and one woman. Use the word ratio when you want to make a comparison between two things. A ratio basically expresses a proportion. Often used in mathematics, the word ratio has many real world uses as well. This word is useful for everything from making salad dressing (an oil-to-vinegar ratio of three to one) to selecting a school for a child (consider the student-to-teacher ratio when making your decision).
Vocabulary lists containing ratio
Pi Day Vocabulary
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Word Generation Science - Measurement
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Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Its high thrust-to-weight ratio means it can climb rapidly to high altitudes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026
The People’s Bank of China will raise the foreign-exchange reserve requirement ratio for financial institutions by 2 percentage points to 6%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026
Conventional wisdom suggests a low P/E ratio can make a stock more attractive.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026
The forward price-to-earnings ratio for the S&P 500 has been falling all year and was recently at around 19, about 20% below its peak.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 1, 2026
He inoculated two sealed, aerated cartons with a mixture of two fly strains—ABC and CBA—in a one-to-one ratio.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
The company said it is looking at airport negotiations, maturing labor agreements, lower crewing ratios and the use of artificial intelligence to drive savings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026
Hazard ratios are often more impressive in midstage trials, which enroll fewer patients than late-stage studies do.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2026
Only Aguero and Hernandez, of players to have scored at least 10 goals as a sub, have better goals-per-game ratios than him.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
With advanced economies seeing bond yields surge -- owing to elevated inflation expectations, surging debt ratios and AI capital-raising activities -- global borrowing costs have been rising.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
This is why their ratios approach the golden ratio.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
They’ve become an entire syntax of communication; many a fine dunk below a ratioed tweet consists of a single GIF.
From The Verge ● Jul. 13, 2022
They also see in Ellis a persona who can laugh off getting ratioed amid a watch-your-step social media culture.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 7, 2021
Soon, 100 of her followers went over to the ASU president’s actual account and ratioed a tweet Crow sent out directing people to resources for coronavirus information.
From Slate ● Jan. 31, 2020
“I just figured because a lot of them were heavily ratioed, and had over 1,000 replies, that too many replies means it shuts down,” Graziano told Salon.
From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2019
The news that McCabe found a new gig was broken by CNN’s in-house media reporter Oliver Darcy, and his tweet was quickly met with criticism and swiftly ratioed.
From Fox News ● Aug. 23, 2019
Candy preference ratioing gets fierce during Spooky Season.
From Salon ● Oct. 29, 2022
Never has so much ratioing left the internet all at once.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 22, 2017
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
