How to spell relatively

hear it/'rɛlʌtɪvli/adverbRules and real life

What it means: In comparison to something else.

In a sentence: The puppy is relatively small compared to the big dog.

The part people get wrong

Watch for an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear. Often misspelled as relativly or relativelly.

Same family: relative, relation, relationship, relational, relating. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Relatively” comes from the Latin word *relativus*, related to *referre* meaning “to bring back” or “to refer.” Over time, the idea of “having reference to something else” turned into our modern sense of comparing one thing to another.

Patterns it uses: The unstressed vowel (schwa)

Try spelling it

You will hear the word and a sentence. Type it and press Enter. Then four more words from the same level, so you know where you stand.

Words like this

definitely · totally · happily · seriously · personally · physically · rapidly · constantly

Spelling.School is a spaced-repetition spelling practice: ten minutes a day, every word spoken aloud, every miss explained, and every word coming back just before you would forget it. Try five words without signing up.