relatively

adv

Etymology: Etymology tree English relative Proto-Indo-European *leyg-der. Proto-Germanic *līkąder. Proto-Germanic *-līkaz Proto-Germanic *-ê Proto-Germanic *-līkê Proto-West Germanic *-līkē Old English -līċe Middle English -ly English -ly English relatively From relative + -ly.

1. In a relative manner; with reference to environment or competition; contextually or comparatively.

   “In the present position of Europe, it is obvious, that France domineers. She has gained positively, by adding territory to her dominions [...]; she has gained relatively, by removing Austria to a distance, and by weakening that ancient rival to such a degree, as to secure her inaction for an age.”

   “[T]he Sundanese [...] have better preserved their primitive usages than the other inhabitants of the island. They are as a rule taller, more robust, and healthier; but they are regarded as relatively barbarous, and in the company of Malays or Javanese, they are themselves ashamed of their dialect, which is looked on as a sort of rude patois.”

2. Somewhat; fairly.

   “Additionally, the F never lets you forget it's one big and very heavy motorcycle. The wide bars give you the leverage to bend it into a corner relatively quickly, but you feel its mass resisting. […] On the freeway, the seat–relatively thin to keep ride height down–offers a pleasant site for your rear through a tank of gas.”

   “There are at least 1,000 DOE staff working in relatively new offices in the department created after Biden’s infrastructure and climate laws passed a few years ago, including the Grid Deployment Office – which works on modernizing and securing the nation’s electrical grid.”