relatable

[ ri-leyt-uh-buhl ]

adjective

1. able to be connected or linked:

   The power of the drill is directly relatable to the amount of voltage stored in its battery.

2. 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.

Other Words From

• re·lat·a·bil·i·ty [ri-ley-t, uh, -, bil, -i-tee] noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of relatable¹

relat(e) ( def ) + -able ( def )

Example Sentences

The site got its start with wonky, yet relatable political analysis that resembled the early days of web blogging.

From Axios

Write relatable material, but make it something that’s specific to you and your story.

From Ozy

The Smallest Light in the Universe, by Sara SeagerAstrophysicist Sara Seager links the death of her husband to her lifelong search for stars and other planets in this relatable, beautiful memoir of motherhood and science.

From Washington Post

For her, there wasn’t any specific reason, other than that Bry seemed more relatable.

From Voice of San Diego

Keep improving with data analysisNo matter how good marketers think their content is, there are always ways to make it more targeted, more relatable and more relevant.

From Digiday

The point of these exercises is to make centuries-old texts relatable; their characters understandable.

From The Daily Beast

There's a huge difference between portraying these young women as relatable and making them seem unremarkable.

From The Daily Beast

The movie was aggressively fun, and, despite its sci-fi setting and outlandish plot, somehow relatable.

From The Daily Beast

Instead, Ernst is seen as a “likable, relatable person” who is cut “from the cloth of small-town Iowa.”

From The Daily Beast

Her stories, aside from being laugh-out-loud hysterical, are relatable.

From The Daily Beast

She must be told of the beauties and dimensions of Stornham, all relatable details of Rosy's life must be generously dwelt on.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• engaging

More About Relatable

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!

Where does relatable come from?

The first record of relatable comes from the 1620s. The word relate is first recorded in the 1490s and derives from the Latin relatus, meaning “brought back.” It comes from the Latin verb referre, which means “to carry back” and is the basis of the word refer.

In everyday conversation, the word relatable has become a popular way to describe a person or thing as one you identify with—one that gives you a feeling of familiarity. People who are relatable are people who seem a lot like you, especially in relation to the things they do or have experienced. You’re most likely to become friends with someone who’s relatable because it means you have a lot in common.

Certain aspects of pop culture, like scenes from TV or movies, are called relatable when they remind you of real life. Fictional characters are called relatable when they do the things you would do, say the things you would say, and feel the things you feel. Celebrities live very different lifestyles than the average person, but they can be described as relatable when they seem like regular, down-to-earth people.

On social media, relatable gets used (often as a #relatable) to sympathize with posts about things that people have done or are going through, especially embarrassing situations or awkward moments. Because we’ve all been there, and we can relate.

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms of relatable?

• relate (verb)
• relatability (noun)

What are some words that share a root or word element with relatable? 

• relation
• refer

What are some words that often get used in discussing relatable?

• identify
• experience
• common
• share
• understandable
• sympathetic
• explain
• reference

How is relatable used in real life?

Relatable is commonly used in discussions and comments about how an experience is very familiar to one’s own.

Gordon Freeman is the most relatable video game protagonist because he was just some dude going to work

— Vomit Dragon (@Vomit_Dragon) March 12, 2020

A very relatable article for me. Maybe you will appreciate this too. https://t.co/zVe5ZHOqkZ

— Lori Joseph (@PoetLoriJoseph) April 10, 2020

Even though #topchefmasters has much higher caliber chefs, they are a lot less relatable in terms of engaging a 21 year old.

— Max Nevins (@MaxNevins) April 7, 2011

 

 

Try using relatable!

Is the word relatable used correctly in the following sentence?

I just saw the most relatable post about dating—it’s like I could have written it myself!