relativity
noun
Simple meaning
Being relative and having significance only about something else.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
rehluhtivuhteeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɹɛləˈtɪvəti
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
countablechiefly in the plural
An evaluation of the similarities and differences between things; a comparison; hence, a difference in position or status between things; a disparity.
The quality of being relative and having significance only in relation to something else
uncountable
The state of being relative to something else; the absence of universally applicable rules or standards; relativism; (countable) an instance of this.
specifically
Also Einsteinian relativity: the reliance of the nature of physical phenomena (such as gravity, light, mass, and time) on the relative motion between an observer and the thing observed, as developed by Albert Einstein in two theories, special relativity and general relativity.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The quality of being relative and having significance only in relation to something else
Used this way, relativity is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It suits considered writing and prepared speech.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Formal and precise
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use relativity
- “The relativity of time means it can feel long or short depending on your activity.”noun
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.