relative humidity

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noun

the amount of water vapor in the air, expressed as a percentage of the maximum amount that the air could hold at the given temperature; the ratio of the actual water vapor pressure to the saturation vapor pressure. Abbreviations: RH, rh

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Also called humidity.

Compare absolute humidity, dew point, mixing ratio, specific humidity.

Origin of relative humidity

First recorded in 1810–20

Words nearby relative humidity

relative clause, relative complement, relative density, relative deprivation, relative frequency, relative humidity, relative impediment, relatively, relatively prime numbers, relative major, relative majority

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use relative humidity in a sentence

Even so, the EPA developed a correction formula for PurpleAir monitor readings that accounts for relative humidity, among other factors.
Sugar Companies Said Our Investigation Is Flawed and Biased. Let’s Dive Into Why That’s Not the Case.|by Lulu Ramadan, The Palm Beach Post, and Maya Miller and Ash Ngu, ProPublica|July 8, 2021|ProPublica
It could feel slightly muggy, too, with dewpoints in the 50s and higher relative humidity above 80 percent at times.
D.C.-area forecast: Comfortable springtime temperatures through the weekend|A. Camden Walker|May 14, 2021|Washington Post
The most likely culprit is the big drop in relative humidity—the amount of water in a given volume of air compared with the maximum it could hold at that temperature—when already-dry cold outside air enters a home and is heated.
Winter will make the pandemic worse. Here’s what you need to know.|David Rotman|October 8, 2020|MIT Technology Review
That’s bad news for most of the US, where relative humidity routinely drops as low as 15% on the coldest days, compared with typical indoor relative humidity of 50% to 70% in the summer.
Winter will make the pandemic worse. Here’s what you need to know.|David Rotman|October 8, 2020|MIT Technology Review

The rise in indoor temperature raises the amount of water the air could hold, but the moisture level remains constant, lowering the relative humidity.
Winter will make the pandemic worse. Here’s what you need to know.|David Rotman|October 8, 2020|MIT Technology Review
These conditions may be a high wind, low relative humidity, high temperatures, or a combination of the three.
Our National Forests|Richard H. Douai Boerker
They were the entranced William and Miss Pratt; and their appearance offered a suggestive contrast in relative humidity.
Seventeen|Booth Tarkington
This cellar should have a temperature of 58° to 64° F. and a relative humidity of 95 per cent of saturation.
The Book of Cheese|Charles Thom and Walter Warner Fisk
Further draining is best accomplished in a room at about 64° F. with a relative humidity of 85 to 90 per cent.
The Book of Cheese|Charles Thom and Walter Warner Fisk
The cellars are wet, since they reach 90 to 95 per cent relative humidity at a temperature of about 55° F.
The Book of Cheese|Charles Thom and Walter Warner Fisk

British Dictionary definitions for relative humidity

relative humidity

noun

the mass of water vapour present in the air expressed as a percentage of the mass that would be present in an equal volume of saturated air at the same temperatureCompare absolute humidity

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for relative humidity

relative humidity

The ratio of the actual amount of water vapor present in a volume of air at a given temperature to the maximum amount that the air could hold at that temperature, expressed as a percentage. Warm air can hold more water vapor than cool air, so a particular amount of water vapor will yield a lower relative humidity in warm air than it does in cool air. Compare absolute humidity.