reliant
Americanadjective
-
having or showing dependence.
reliant on money from home.
-
confident; trustful.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of reliant
Explanation
To be reliant is to depend on someone or something. When you're reliant on a person, you need that person. There are a lot ways people and things can be reliant. Kids are reliant on their parents for food and shelter. We're all reliant on the police to keep us safe, but the police are reliant on the government for funding. Being reliant is about being dependent. If you can do without something, you're not reliant on it. When you feel like you don't need other people, you can say you're self-reliant.
Vocabulary lists containing reliant
Catching Fire
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The World Is Flat
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Essential Question Vocabulary (Unit 2)
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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.
Ukraine needs to localize production so it isn’t reliant on other countries that can cut off supply, he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Legal experts have cautioned that pursuing companies linked to the smoke is challenging, with investigations reliant on cooperation from foreign authorities.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
Nearly a quarter of Wales lacks 4G coverage from every mobile network operator, according to Ofcom, external - leaving some communities reliant on masts hosted by farmers and landowners.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026
The stakes are also high for President Xi Jinping, however, with China heavily reliant on exports in order to compensate for its wobbly domestic economy.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
He was elected, the rest were county employees whose job status was not reliant on elections.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
