Abstract. Two operators A,B on a complex separable Hilbert space H are said to be strongly approximatively similar, denoted by A ∼ sas B , if (i) given ε > 0 , there exist compact operators K i with K i < ε(i = 1,2) such that A + K 1 and B + K 2 are similar; and (ii) σ 0 (A) = σ 0 (B) and dim H (λ ;A) = dim H (λ ;B) for each λ ∈ σ 0 (A) . In this paper, we characterize strongly approximative similarity for a class of operators which is dense in B(H ) in the operator norm. As a result, we infer that the relation ∼ sas is an equivalence relation for this class of operators. A corresponding classification is accordingly obtained.Mathematics subject classification (2010): 47A65, 47A66, 47A53.