ratio

American  

[rey-shoh, -shee-oh] / ˈreɪ ʃoʊ, -ʃiˌoʊ /

noun

• ratios
  plural

1. 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.

2. proportional relation; rate.

   the ratio between acceptances and rejections.

3. Finance. the relative value of gold and silver in a bimetallic currency system.

4. 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.”

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verb (used with object)

ratioed, ratio'd, ratioing

1. (on Twitter) to flood (a tweet or its author) with negative replies such that commenters as a group take control of the momentum and message away from the original poster.

   Political pundits trying to write provocative and edgy tweets are going to get ratioed sooner or later.

ratio British  

/ ˈreɪʃɪˌəʊ /

noun

1. a measure of the relative size of two classes expressible as a proportion

   the ratio of boys to girls is 2 to 1

2. maths a quotient of two numbers or quantities See also proportion

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ratio Scientific  

/ rā′shō,rā′shē-ō′ /

1. A relationship between two quantities, normally expressed as the quotient of one divided by the other. For example, if a box contains six red marbles and four blue marbles, the ratio of red marbles to blue marbles is 6 to 4, also written 6:4. A ratio can also be expressed as a decimal or percentage.

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ratio Cultural  

1. An expression of the relative size of two numbers by showing one divided by the other.

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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

• ratios
  plural

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).

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ratio ratios ratioed ratioing

Now let’s look at the movement of the index’s forward price/sales ratio over the past 20 years:

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

The capital ratio remains well above the no-less-than-11% of risk-weighted assets that Canada’s banking regulator requires from each of the country’s big banks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

Boston's scoring ratio is extraordinary, claiming 478 tries in 488 games for Wigan and helping them win three Challenge Cups and the Championship.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

Plus I’d loved teaching, and for years my employer had offered me praise, awards and touted the high return-student ratio I’d helped to build.

From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026

The ratio of misery to pleasure was greater by an order of magnitude than any other mountain I’d been on; I quickly came to understand that climbing Everest was primarily about enduring pain.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

There are 214 stocks of S&P 500 companies trading below their 10-year average forward price/sales ratios.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

It started to falter under the new "three red lines" -- caps for three different debt ratios -- which forced the group to offload properties at increasingly steep discounts.

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

A video by “Sinners” filmmaker Ryan Coogler explaining aspect ratios and screen size became a viral hit; some fans used punchcards to note seeing the movie in all its possible exhibition formats.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

Professor Wright added: "We predict that honeybees have evolved to create glandular secretions which are the perfect food for their larvae, providing them with the ratios of essential amino acids that maximize growth."

From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026

Except for the unison and the octave, none of the ratios for equal temperament are exactly the same as for the pure interval.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

Vance has been repeatedly ratioed on X ever since, a small but telling sign that the usual outrage machine is misfiring.

From Salon ● Jan. 14, 2026

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

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

What they are doing is getting themselves retweeted and liked, and if they are unlucky they are getting ratioed.

From Slate ● Sep. 5, 2018

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

Related Words

• proportion
• quota
• rate
• scale