relatively

The word “relatively” means fairly or somewhat, when judged against a typical standard. In plain terms, compared to what you'd normally expect — a softening word that makes a claim less absolute.

“Relatively” is pronounced REHL-uh-tihv-lee ([ˈɹɛl.ə.tʰɪv.li] in IPA).

Here is “relatively” used in a sentence: “The exam was relatively easy compared to last year's.”

“Relatively” is an adverb.

“Relatively” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B1 level.

“Relatively” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: fairly or somewhat, when judged against a typical standard.

'Relatively' judges something against a standard or comparison — 'relatively cheap' means cheap compared with similar things. 'Absolutely' means completely or without qualification, judged on its own rather than against anything else. So relatively describes a matter of degree, while absolutely describes something total or fixed.

The two are close and often interchangeable, both softening a description to mean 'to a moderate degree.' 'Fairly' simply means quite or somewhat. 'Relatively' adds the sense of a comparison — moderate when measured against a typical standard or against other cases. In casual use, though, people frequently treat them as the same.

'The test was relatively easy' means easy compared with what was expected or with other tests. 'It's a relatively small town' judges the size against typical towns. In each case 'relatively' signals that the description holds by comparison, not in absolute terms, and softens it to mean fairly or somewhat.