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

Fleming has a long-standing relationship with McCullum as a former team-mate, friend and business partner.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026

The friendship had become a long-distance relationship, and they were regularly speaking on the phone.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

“The hard part of a long-distance relationship is there is a component of fantasy that could creep in that clouds understanding of the relationship or what is going on,” Bobby says.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026

The university’s head football coach speaks about his working relationship with 25-year-old Jordon Hudson.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

Chase’s relationship with Tomás was not much better, but theirs was a language problem.

From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith

In a statement, Coinbase’s Shirzad said Armstrong has strong relationships with senators on both sides of the aisle, and that he approaches those conversations with respect.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026

Sports teams often enjoyed long and beneficial relationships with brokers, who bought out blocks of season tickets.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

But researchers are still trying to determine whether those physical health improvements also extend into other parts of life, such as mental health, relationships, and employment.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 18, 2026

Martin said he was also looking forward to discussing "even stronger and closer relationships between the European Union and the United Kingdom, which will be of benefit to the European Union and to Ireland".

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

“Grown-up relationships can be very complicated. Not even adults understand them sometimes.”

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

Related Words

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