relationship
Americannoun
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a connection, association, or involvement.
- Synonyms:
- kinship, alliance, dependence
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connection between persons by blood or marriage.
- Synonyms:
- consanguinity, affinity
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an emotional or other connection between people.
the relationship between teachers and students.
-
a sexual involvement; affair.
noun
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the state of being connected or related
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association by blood or marriage; kinship
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the mutual dealings, connections, or feelings that exist between two parties, countries, people, etc
a business relationship
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an emotional or sexual affair or liaison
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logic maths another name for relation
Related Words
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
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.
"When you have products designed to maximize capture of your attention, some people are going to have a harmful relationship to it," said Arturo Béjar, a Meta whistleblower who has testified against the company.
From BBC • May 21, 2026
She said the idea came from a comment Cooke made in an interview about how the cast was handling the blockbuster relationship news.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 21, 2026
By October 2024, they had taken their relationship to the next level by moving in together in a Los Angeles dwelling, with Ballerini telling People: “We’re unpacked, baby!”
From MarketWatch • May 21, 2026
"I made general criticisms, I criticised the relationship between the judiciary and politics. As a judicial reporter, I criticised operations in the judiciary on social media, I want to know what is criminal about that?"
From Barron's • May 21, 2026
Plus, Maggie had paraded what Leah considered a foolish relationship with a long-dead Elisha Kent Kane in front of the public.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
Definitions 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.
