relation

noun

ri-ˈlā-shən How to pronounce relation (audio)
Definition of relationnext
1
as in interaction
relations plural doings between individuals or groups relations between the rival newspapers remained friendly despite their competition for the same stories

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in relative
a person connected with another by blood or marriage he and I are relations on my mother's side

Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in relationship
the fact or state of having something in common there's no relation between you losing your favorite baseball hat and your team losing the game

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in partnership
the state of having shared interests or efforts (as in social or business matters) our intramural baseball team had a relation with the other baseball teams in the area

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
5
as in sex
relations plural sexual union involving penetration of the vagina by the penis a law that prohibits relations between close relatives

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of relation Our survival depended on knowing our place within it, and on strong relations with our neighbors. — Amelia Rose Barlow, Rolling Stone, 22 Oct. 2026 Jean Lauhm, Geisen Funeral Home community relations director, is on the Coffin Cup committee. — Anna Ortiz, Chicago Tribune, 22 Oct. 2026 The agency’s services include brand development, media relations, influencer and talent partnerships, social strategy, and strategic counsel across fashion, beauty, and consumer lifestyle sectors. — Zac Ntim, Deadline, 22 Oct. 2026 The agency’s services include brand development, media relations, influencer and talent partnerships, social strategy and strategic counsel. — Samantha Conti, Footwear News, 22 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for relation
Recent Examples of Synonyms for relation
  1. interaction
  2. relative
  3. relationship
  4. partnership
  5. coupling
  6. cousin
  7. kinship
  8. association
Noun
  • Instead of relying primarily on inorganic compounds, scientists can investigate how molecular geometry and stronger electronic interactions create useful quantum properties.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Without its own personal assistant, Anthropic might lose those daily interactions to competing products from Meta and OpenAI—even if users might prefer Anthropic’s Claude.
    — Wen Shao, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of interaction
Noun
  • Stanley Zydlo pleaded guilty in 1980 to paying a $1,000 bribe to have the test results altered for a Fire Department physical entrance exam taken by two relatives.
    — Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Kohen Wiley’s close relatives watched the footage shot during the June encounter in a Walmart parking lot in Senatobia, about 40 miles south of Memphis.
    — Jack Brook, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of relative
Noun
  • The first of the 12 steps is admitting that your relationship with your vice has become unmanageable.
    — Allison Parshall, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Bae Hyeon-seong plays Sun-woo in his first lead role in a feature film, and the knotty relationship between mother and son sits at the heart of the film.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of relationship
Noun
  • This month, it was reported that KFC ended its roughly four-decade-long partnership with Pepsi in favor of rival Coca-Cola.
    — Preston Fore, Fortune, 24 Oct. 2026
  • But Finch then offered some perspective on the process that Adebayo and Antetokounmpo are currently going through early in their on-court partnership.
    — Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of partnership
Noun
  • The coupling of violence with law and order is ever present in the agent’s recollections, but tonally, the show feels light.
    — Stephanie Wambugu, Vulture, 12 Oct. 2026
  • The vehicles can separate and regroup to route freight toward different destinations without requiring the same conventional coupling arrangements.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 11 Oct. 2026
Definition of coupling
Noun
  • Completing a not-quite Scooby Gang are Mallory (Grace Brennan), returning to public school after three years of homeschooling, and her cousin Weldon (Colter Lee), a deadpan original turn on the nerd.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Bo has had a close relationship with his older cousin Tilden.
    — Lia Beck, PEOPLE, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of cousin
Noun
  • The Masts dispute the family's kinship and argue that reopening the adoption now would be a significant disruption for the girl, who is now 7 and has been living with their family for years.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 20 Oct. 2026
  • The film reflects on faith, kinship and the passage from life to death.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of kinship
Noun
  • The association remained after accounting for whether patients completed radiation on time, suggesting that on-time completion may not fully explain the difference.
    — Marci Lee Nilsen, The Conversation, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Mike Elliott, senior director of Banner Sports Medicine High Performance Center, told Banner Health that most of the available research is observational and shows association rather than direct cause.
    — Samantha Agate, Miami Herald, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of association

Browse Nearby Words

relating (to)
relation
relations
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Relation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/relation. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on relation

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about relation

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of milieu

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All