relationship

noun

ri-ˈlā-shən-ˌship How to pronounce relationship (audio)
Definition of relationshipnext
1
as in kinship
the fact or state of having something in common studied the relationship between the phases of the moon and ocean tides

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in partnership
the state of having shared interests or efforts (as in social or business matters) the street's shopkeepers have a good business relationship

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 relationship Making friends, maintaining healthy relationships and working through conflicts requires practice, and some of that practice time now competes with communication mediated by screens. — Roxanne Prichard, The Conversation, 26 Oct. 2026 At the time, Zeta-Jones was aware of his reputation as a Hollywood womanizer and wary of starting a relationship with him. — Ashley Hume, FOXNews.com, 26 Oct. 2026 But this gluing also connects individual edges from each rim in pairings that represent incompatible relationships. — Alex Stone, Quanta Magazine, 26 Oct. 2026 Police believe the woman and man were involved in a relationship, Gaines said. — Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 26 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for relationship
Recent Examples of Synonyms for relationship
  1. kinship
  2. partnership
  3. connection
  4. collaboration
  5. association
  6. cooperation
  7. correlation
  8. affiliation
Noun
  • Government officials previously said that these 11 families split from a common male-line ancestor some 600 years ago, and are now at least 36 degrees of kinship from Naruhito.
    — Chad de Guzman, Time, 26 Oct. 2026
  • At first glance, their already tight kinship, and all their many overlapping businesses, suggest that a new SpaceX-Tesla makes sense.
    — Shawn Tully, Fortune, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of kinship
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
  • Tonight’s Venus cazimi could clarify which connections or future plans still genuinely excite you.
    — Tarot.com, New York Daily News, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Future vehicles will also be able to check their electrical connections during assembly, potentially eliminating a final electrical validation step.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of connection
Noun
  • The Sun enters your 11th House, beginning a month focused on friends, communities, collaborations, networks, and your longer-term hopes.
    — Tarot.com, New York Daily News, 23 Oct. 2026
  • The collaboration is part of a broader strategy to introduce the 50-year-old house to new consumers while building on recent commercial gains.
    — Thomas Waller, Footwear News, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of collaboration
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
Noun
  • Authoritarian leader Kim Jong Un has taken a hard line toward Seoul and has suspended virtually all dialogue and cooperation with the South in recent years.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Talks would focus on cooperation in energy, nuclear plants, sustainable mining and the defense industry.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of cooperation
Noun
  • Traders at Goldman Sachs pointed out that the stock's correlation to the Nasdaq-100 index turned negative this year for the first time ever.
    — Fred Imbert, CNBC, 26 Oct. 2026
  • The brand also stocked TPO-free nail polishes well before the recent ban — following the gel polish ingredient’s correlation with reproductive risk.
    — Tracy Achonwa, Vogue, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of correlation
Noun
  • Into the early 1950s, recent Chinese immigrants with any potential Communist affiliation were detained on Ellis Island or deported to Red China.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 26 Oct. 2026
  • In the latest polling, 52% of Catholics said moderate alcohol consumption is bad for health, alongside 56% of adults with no religious affiliation and 48% of Protestants.
    — Khloe Quill, FOXNews.com, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of affiliation

Browse Nearby Words

relations
relationship
relationships
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

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

Copy Citation
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

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

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

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

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

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
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

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

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