relationship
Americannoun
-
relationships
plural
-
a connection, association, or involvement.
- Synonyms:
- kinship, alliance, dependence
-
connection between persons by blood or marriage.
- Synonyms:
- consanguinity, affinity
-
an emotional or other connection between people.
the relationship between teachers and students.
-
a sexual involvement; affair.
noun
-
the state of being connected or related
-
association by blood or marriage; kinship
-
the mutual dealings, connections, or feelings that exist between two parties, countries, people, etc
a business relationship
-
an emotional or sexual affair or liaison
-
logic maths another name for relation
Synonym Usage
Relationship, kinship refer to connection with others by blood or by marriage. Relationship can be applied to connection either by birth or by marriage: relationship to a ruling family. Kinship generally denotes common descent and implies a more intimate connection than relationship: the ties and obligations of kinship.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of relationship
Explanation
When you're in a relationship, you're emotionally involved or at least connected in some way. If you're related to somebody — your parents, your aunts and uncles, your cousins — you share a family relationship with them. You can also use relationship to describe dealings between various groups, as “Members of the European Union have a relationship of economic interconnectedness,” or “A lease helps define your relationship with your landlord.” You'll also see relationship used with interactions that don't directly involve people. In many of these cases, the word relation is better. For example, in the sentence "We are always looking at the relationship between ticket price and sales," it would be better to use relation.
Vocabulary lists containing relationship
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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The SAT: Language of the Test, List 4
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TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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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:
One of the reasons he did not was he thought their characters would clash, that the relationship would be too combustible.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026
These reductions suggest that the brain's reward response may help explain part of the relationship between ultra-processed food consumption and changes in body composition.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 4, 2026
Maron’s real-life relationship with golf isn’t quite as involved as Mitts’, the character he plays in the series.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026
However, the relationship between manager and club had been turning sour since the previous summer.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026
Believers developed conspiratorial theories to explain the mysterious relationship between mediums and spirits.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
The government would also have powers to force companies to appoint independent assessors at their expense to investigate fires, business operations and corporate relationships.
From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2026
West Hollywood has become the latest city to create a domestic partnership registry for polyamorous relationships, with the city’s five-person City Council unanimously approving the legal protections for alternative family structures.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026
To investigate these relationships, the researchers combined 50,000 correlations drawn from 137 cognitive and achievement test batteries into a single statistical model.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 3, 2026
The family of a murdered schoolgirl says the government has told them it plans to create a new law defining teenage abusive relationships – because of their campaigning.
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026
After that experience, she wasn't all that interested in pursuing any secret relationships, which was why marriage was her first real attempt at dating.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
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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.
