relationship

American  

[ri-ley-shuhn-ship] / rɪˈleɪ ʃənˌʃɪp /

noun

relationships plural

1. a connection, association, or involvement.

   Synonyms:

   kinship, alliance, dependence

2. connection between persons by blood or marriage.

   Synonyms:

   consanguinity, affinity

3. an emotional or other connection between people.

   the relationship between teachers and students.

4. a sexual involvement; affair.

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relationship British  

/ rɪˈleɪʃənʃɪp /

noun

1. the state of being connected or related

2. association by blood or marriage; kinship

3. the mutual dealings, connections, or feelings that exist between two parties, countries, people, etc

   a business relationship

4. an emotional or sexual affair or liaison

5. logic maths another name for relation

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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

• prerelationship
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• relationships
  plural

Etymology

Origin of relationship

First recorded in 1735–45; relation + -ship

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

relationship relationships

From what you’ve written, it doesn’t sound as though you had a particularly close relationship with her.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026

The fall of Brendan Rodgers, and Dermot Desmond's startling evisceration of a celebrated manager, could only be rivalled if Celtic's major shareholder suddenly takes a flamethrower to his relationship with O'Neill.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

Yet the diary also sheds light on a different public-vs.-private distinction, concerning Dr. Fauci’s relationship with President Trump.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

Richards already had a shaky relationship with the “Jeopardy!” audience, as he was given the job after overseeing the search and audition process to replace Trebek, creating the appearance of self-dealing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026

They ordered him to deny the engagement and end any relationship with Maggie Fox.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

The UK bestseller lists have a range of titles that sit in the "everyday life and human relationships" category defined by the research, including:

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

Mastercard expanded its stablecoin relationships to crypto companies BitGo and Kraken in the quarter.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 30, 2026

“Given the nature of my business and its relationships within the industry, I wouldn’t want to compromise my professional obligations,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

“In addition, such outcomes could weaken Delaware Life’s regulatory relationships and damage its reputation, which could erode its competitive position,” S&P said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

Then I added more coolly, “Gender relationships are a very...private matter for me.”

From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon

Related Words

• accord
• affair
• communication
• contact
• exchange
• liaison
• link
• marriage
• rapport
• relation
• tie