Use this expression when you want to compare something to other things of the same kind.

For example, if you say that a wine is "relatively inexpensive", it means that it's cheaper than a lot of other wines that are of similar quality. The price might still seem expensive to the customer, but it is "relatively" cheap compared to those other wines.

The way that people use "relatively ___" is similar to "pretty ___" or "rather ___". It means an amount which is larger than "a little ___" but less than "very ___". So here are some examples:

• Most movies are about 90-100 minutes long. So a move that is 85 minutes long is "relatively short".
• The average height for men in the U.S. is 5 feet, 9 inches. Very tall people are sometimes 6 feet, 5 inches. So a 6-foot-tall man is "relatively tall".

Some adjectives which often appear after "relatively" are:

relatively small (number, percentage, budget)

relatively low (cost, chances, prices)

relatively easy (to do something)

relatively short (distance, time)

relatively simple