relatable
Americanadjective
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able to be connected or linked.
The power of the drill is directly relatable to the amount of voltage stored in its battery.
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easy to form a social or emotional connection with; appealing or sympathetic.
She plays the sort of supremely relatable everywoman that moviegoers love and learn from.
Usage
What does relatable mean? If something is relatable, it means you can relate to it—you can identify with it because you’ve experienced it or something similar. Relatable is the adjective form of relate, one meaning of which is to establish a social or sympathetic relationship with a person or thing. Saying something is relatable is the same as saying that you can relate to it. Relatable can also mean able to be expressed or described, as in Complex concepts like this are not easily relatable in such a short amount of time. It can also mean able to be connected to something else, as in The two events are not so easily relatable—it’s not a simple case of cause and effect. Example: The part in the movie when she hit the snooze button 10 times was so relatable—I do that all the time!
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of relatable
Explanation
Anything that's relatable can be connected with something else. Your stomachache may be relatable to all that ice cream you ate for breakfast. When one thing relates or pertains to another, they're relatable. A less formal but extremely popular way to use this word is for something you understand or sympathize with because you've experienced the same thing yourself. If every character in a book is perfectly beautiful and witty, they're not particularly relatable. On the other hand, your favorite comedian's bit about an embarrassing gaffe at a fancy party is totally relatable.
Vocabulary lists containing relatable
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.
"It's a crime drama populated by flawed, funny, relatable people which, if feedback from real police officers is to be believed, isn't all that far from reality."
From BBC • May 19, 2026
It also normalizes elite privilege by reframing it as relatable aspiration.
From Salon • May 18, 2026
Welcome back to Don’t Short Yourself, where each week we cut through the noise to bring you relatable and realistic advice to help you take control of your money.
From MarketWatch • May 12, 2026
It might just be the most relatable part in this billionaire feud for AI supremacy.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 9, 2026
In other words, the song relives and retells the experiences of a child in another century and makes her story highly relatable to us today.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
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.
