From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishclose relation/relativeclose relation/relativeFAMILYa member of your family such as your brother, sister, parent etc OPP distant The wedding was attended by close family only. → close
Examples from the Corpus
close relation/relative• The people who had saved my life were my close relations!• We let grandparents and other close relatives and friends enter and touch the infant, if the parents wish.• All of its close relatives except one make the whine but not the chuck.• Financial need, even on the part of a close relative, has apparently never been seen as a situation which required an automatic response.• Because, they argued, the males in coalitions were almost always close relatives, kin selection enhanced the benefits of cooperation.• But they are thinking about commercial applications for the chanterelle and its close relative, the Tricholoma matsutake.• It may also be powerful between close relatives where one may be in a dominant position vis-à-vis the other.• Because the government abandoned any formal incomes policy there was less call for it to maintain close relations with union leaders. 