related
Americanadjective
-
associated; connected.
- Synonyms:
- affiliated, relevant
-
allied by nature, origin, kinship, marriage, etc.
-
narrated, recounted, or told.
There were two eyewitnesses, but their related accounts were completely different.
-
Music. (of chords, scales, or tones) having a close harmonic or melodic connection.
adjective
-
connected; associated
-
connected by kinship or marriage
-
(in diatonic music) denoting or relating to a key that has notes in common with another key or keys
Other Word Forms
- nonrelated adjective
- relatedly adverb
- relatedness noun
- unrelated adjective
Etymology
Origin of related
Explanation
Things are related when there's some connection or similarity between them. The fact that you caught a cold might be related to the fact that the kids you babysat sneezed and coughed all night long. People are related when they share a family connection, and other things are related by different kinds of connections. One poem is related to another if they come from the same school or movement of poetry, and a boy's dislike of baseball is probably related to the fact that his first coach yelled a lot. The verb relate is at the root of related, from the Latin relatus, "brought back."
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.
He has portrayed the current sparse intra-party discussion related to Israel as major progress.
From Salon • Apr. 20, 2026
More than 150 incidents related to animal dumping, with the majority occurring in the Mid Ulster and Fermanagh and Omagh council areas.
From BBC • Apr. 19, 2026
And while the researchers looked at 17 different medical studies, only two of those related specifically to Leqembi and Kisunla; the others related to other drugs that targeted amyloid clusters.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 18, 2026
“The two countries are today guided by related political models. ... To reconstruct the ties is urgent in these times.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 18, 2026
“In my opinion, it should have been the hyena. Don’t look like that, Little Pumpkin. I’m sure you aren’t related to hyenas.”
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
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.
