relative to

Idioms  

1. Correspondent or proportionate to, as in Relative to its size, Boston has a great many universities, or It's important to get all the facts relative to the collision. Another form of this idiom is, meaning “in reference or with regard to,” as in Demand is high in relation to supply, or That argument changes nothing with relation to our plans for hiring workers. The usages with relative date from the second half of the 1700s, those with relation from the late 1500s.

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Example Sentences

Planned capital spending this year is larger relative to its market value or revenue compared with Google’s parent, Alphabet, Microsoft or Amazon.com.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 11, 2026

The company has struggled to diversify revenue beyond ad sales, and it is far from clear that its subscription options will appeal to users or be attractive relative to AI offerings from competitors.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 11, 2026

In addition to calculating where bitcoin stands today relative to its fair value, the model is also helpful in projecting its possible future return.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 11, 2026

Brazil’s output in the first four months of the year, for example, rose by 800,000 barrels a day relative to a year before.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 9, 2026

He'd asked Big Harm's husband, who shares the Das surname because he's some sort of relative, to snip a lock of Baba's hair and put it in the urn before...

From "You Bring the Distant Near" by Mitali Perkins