interdependent
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of interdependent
Explanation
When objects or people are interdependent, they come to rely on each other for survival. As business becomes more and more international, the world is increasingly interdependent, with countries needing each other's help to survive. Interdependent comes from the Latin word inter meaning "among, between," and dependere which means "to hang from, be dependent on." When two people are interdependent, they have a sense of dependency between them. Married couples are often interdependent. They rely on one another — whether for income or child care or love — to get by.
Vocabulary lists containing interdependent
Life Science: Ecosystems
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Ecology - Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems - Introductory
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Ecology - Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems - Middle School and High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
By what precise mechanisms they communicate, and whether their arboreal exchanges are interdependent or competitive, remains contested.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
"What this episode has highlighted is just how interdependent our infrastructure is," said Prof Alan Woodward of the University of Surrey.
From BBC • Oct. 20, 2025
In a world that is entirely interdependent down to the molecules that make up our bodies, to suggest that any one person can singularly do anything without the support of others is quite a stretch.
From Salon • May 18, 2025
And actually, people who struggle in terms of their socioeconomic status tend to be more interdependent and reliant on trust.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 12, 2024
They live together in dense, interdependent communities, feeding and supporting the environment for each other, regulating the balance of populations between different species by a complex system of chemical signals.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
