Meanings
comparative more comparatively · superlative most comparatively
- In a comparative manner.
And yet I suppose that my life has been, comparatively speaking, a happy one.
1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC1 more example
Railway grouping had caused some peculiarly Scottish phraseology to disappear, though the note "Stops on timous notice to the guard" survived until comparatively recently.
1956 April, K. H. Rudolph, “Fun with "'Bradshaw"”, in Railway Magazine, page 253 - When compared to other entities.
Never did I see a more dreary and depressing scene. Miles on miles of quagmire, varied only by bright green strips of comparatively solid ground[.]
1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC1 more example
In freewayless areas like the Northwest, traffic jams are comparatively fewer – encouraged by the lack of a highway, more people have been riding buses.
2019 February 7, Richard F. Weingroff, “The D.C. Freeway Revolt and the Coming of Metro: Part 5 - After the Court Revolt”, in Federal Highway Administration, archived from the original on 23 Oct 2025, page 61
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbin a relative manner; by comparison to something else
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latincomparātīvu
- Old Frenchcomparatif
- Middle Englishcomparatif
- Englishcomparative
- Englishcomparatively
From comparative + -ly.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic نِسْبِيّاً
- نِسْبِيّاً (nisbiyyan)when compared to other entities
Catalan comparativament, comparativament
- comparativamentin a comparative manner
- comparativamentwhen compared to other entities
Dutch relatief, betrekkelijk
- relatiefin a comparative manner
- betrekkelijkin a comparative manner
Esperanto kompare, kompare
- komparein a comparative manner
- komparewhen compared to other entities
German vergleichsweise, verhältnismäßig
- vergleichsweisein a comparative manner
- verhältnismäßigin a comparative manner
- vergleichsweisewhen compared to other entities
- verhältnismäßigwhen compared to other entities
Greek συγκριτικά, συγκριτικά
- συγκριτικά (sygkritiká)in a comparative manner
- συγκριτικά (sygkritiká)when compared to other entities
Italian relativamente
- relativamentein a comparative manner
Portuguese comparativamente, comparativamente
- comparativamentein a comparative manner
- comparativamentewhen compared to other entities
Russian сравни́тельно, сравни́тельно
- сравни́тельно (sravnítelʹno)in a comparative manner
- сравни́тельно (sravnítelʹno)when compared to other entities
Spanish comparativamente, comparativamente
- comparativamentein a comparative manner
- comparativamentewhen compared to other entities
Ukrainian порі́вняно
- порі́вняно (porívnjano)when compared to other entities
Cite this entry
comparatively. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/comparatively
“comparatively.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/comparatively. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “comparatively,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/comparatively.
Source: comparatively on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.