relevant
- 1Closely connected with the matter being discussed or considered, and important to it.
The committee asked witnesses to confine their remarks to relevant details.
Only the most relevant studies made it into the final review.
UsageUsually followed by to: details relevant to the case, questions relevant to the lesson.
Oppositeirrelevant
Note
A word that began in the Scottish courts. Scots lawyers were using it for "legally pertinent" from the early 1500s. Some of that courtroom habit survives in how the word is used: it sorts what bears on the question at hand from what does not, as when witnesses are held to relevant details.
- 2Up to date and still applicable; not outdated.
Decades later, the author's warnings remain remarkably relevant.
The training manual was revised to keep its advice relevant.
UsageOften with words of time: still relevant, remain relevant, relevant again.
Similarcurrent, applicable
Oppositeoutdated, dated, obsolete
Note
The matter that counts here is the present moment rather than a topic, and the word pairs readily with words of time: still relevant, relevant again, remain relevant. The Aberdeen Times in 1973 calls the message of Christmas still relevant. The 2008 guide Tips and Traps for Marketing Your Business says the RAZR phone and its campaign made Motorola relevant again. The first implies the thing could have dated and did not; the second, that it had faded and came back.
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- The Aberdeen Times published the Christmas wording in 1973; Wiktionary dates the article to December 20, 1973. en.wiktionary.org
- Tips and Traps for Marketing Your Business was first published in 2008. mheducation.com
- The book says Motorola became relevant again through the RAZR phone combined with its Hello Moto campaign. library.select.edu.et
- 3Currently famous, popular, or worth paying attention to.
A surprise album kept the rapper relevant through an otherwise quiet year.
Few influencers stay relevant once the trend that made them fades.
UsageUsually with stay, keep or remain: stay relevant, keep a brand relevant. In formal writing, prominent or popular is safer.
Note
A slang stretch of the "still current" meaning. What stays current here is a person or a product in the public eye, not an idea or a piece of advice. It usually comes with stay, keep or remain, and it carries a quiet judgment: to be relevant is to be noticed now, with fading always close behind. In formal writing, prominent or popular is the safer choice.
Practice
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Origin
Latin relevō ("lift up again, lighten, relieve"), from re- ("again") and levō ("lift"), had the present active participle relevāns; Scots legal circles borrowed it and used it from the early 1500s to mean "legally pertinent."