Association
Association noun - The state of having shared interests or efforts (as in social or business matters).
Usage example: the public television station is producing the series in association with a foundation for the arts
Relation is a synonym for association in relationship topic. In some cases you can use "Relation" instead a noun "Association", when it comes to topics like mental connection, friendship, connection, importance. popular alternative
Relation
Relation noun - The fact or state of having something in common.
Usage example: there's no relation between you losing your favorite baseball hat and your team losing the game
Association is a synonym for relation in connection topic. You can use "Association" instead a noun "Relation", if it concerns topics such as relationship, importance, mental connection. popular alternative
Nearby Word: relational
Mutual synonyms
Related pairs
- affinity and association
- affinity and relation
- bearing and association
- bearing and relation
- bond and association
- bond and relation
- alliance and association
- alliance and relation
- link and association
- link and relation
- connection and association
- connection and relation
- tie and association
- tie and relation
How words are described
| close | close association | close relation |
| old | old association | old relation |
| good | good association | good relation |
| musical | musical association | musical relation |
| Other adjectives: similar, usual, direct, original, deep, obvious, strong, entire, little, personal, new, vague, passing, possible, apparent, negative, older, previous. | ||
Both words in one sentence
- Entirely new characters who live in the same fictional universe of a franchise and whose specific relation/association to the original characters may or may not be revealed.
Source: Fanfic Fuel -
Thanks to Future Alec's meddling, Escher is killed and the revelation of his relation to Alec and Emily's association with him hits pretty hard, rendering Past Alec a fair bit more cynical.
Source: Series / Continuum -
However, these usually bear some relation to each other and their musical association adds an extra layer of meaning.
Source: Theatre / Les Misérables
Cite this Source
Relation and Association. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 15, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/association/relation
Association & Relation. N.p., 2016. Web. 15 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/association/relation>.
Relation or Association. 2016. Accessed August 15, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/association/relation.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "association" and "relation" have occurred on timeline