rely

American  

[ri-lahy] / rɪˈlaɪ /

verb (used without object)

relies, present (3rd person singular) relied, past participle, past relying present participle

1. to depend confidently; put trust in (usually followed by on orupon ).

   You can rely on her work.

   Synonyms:

   bank, count, trust

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rely British  

/ rɪˈlaɪ /

verb

1. to be dependent (on)

   he relies on his charm

2. to have trust or confidence (in)

   you can rely on us

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• misrely
  verb (used without object)

Inflected Forms

Participles

• relying
  present
• relied
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• rely
  simple
• relies
  simple
• have relied
  perfect
• has relied
  perfect
• am relying
  progressive
• are relying
  progressive
• is relying
  progressive
• have been relying
  perfect progressive
• has been relying
  perfect progressive

Past

• relied
  simple
• had relied
  perfect
• was relying
  progressive
• were relying
  progressive
• had been relying
  perfect progressive

Future

• will rely
  simple
• will have relied
  perfect
• will be relying
  progressive
• will have been relying
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of rely

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English relien, from Middle French relier, from Latin religāre “to bind fast, hold firmly”; see re-, ligament

Explanation

To rely is to have confidence in something. You might rely on staying in bed to make you feel better and rely on your friends to tell you everything you missed when you were sick. Rely is a lot like the word depend. If you rely on someone for help, you also depend on her. But rely is even more powerful! When you rely on someone, you have total faith and trust that she will come through. It comes from the Latin word religare which means "to fasten or bind." You're bound to the people you rely on!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

rely relies relied relying

But because neither those funds nor the paid care workers are available to take the place of family members, the system will continue to rely on families.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026

A boycott could harm day laborers who rely on customers to hire them for manual labor jobs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026

For example, millions of older Americans rely on Social Security benefits and Medicare health insurance coverage to stay out of poverty.

From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2026

"You can't just rely on one good qualifying, so I need a good race tomorrow," Norris said.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026

Then when it became apparent Ob and I were probably going to rely on peanut butter to pull us through, he finally got the notion to go on home.

From "Missing May" by Cynthia Rylant

Photo-based calorie tracking relies on AI image recognition to identify the foods shown in a picture and estimate the size of each portion.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026

"The Ukrainian army today relies to a large extent on volunteers," she said, arguing products therefore have to be "simple, clear and easily reproduced".

From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026

As for profits, Goldman relies on data from the U.S.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026

This change didn’t affect how the CDC detects and investigates outbreaks; for that it relies on a separate reporting system that collects case and genetic sequencing information from labs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

His friends rely on him, and he relies on them—the simple balance on which so many lives are built.

From "Every Day" by David Levithan

As civil resistance grew, ICE agents were eventually forced to change their approach from military occupation to a new phase that relied on covert tactics and the collaboration of local law enforcement.

From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026

After failing to replace Kyogo Furuhashi up front, Celtic relied on Maeda to play through the middle for almost the entirety of last season.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026

Unlike Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, or Hope and Crosby, who relied on tightly scripted setups, this disparate yet kindred duo captured America’s heart by being viscerally, uproariously and unpredictably wild.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026

He denied intentionally dodging taxes or breaking the law, testifying that he disliked handling tax and other financial matters, so he relied on office managers and accountants.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

Foragers relied on dozens of species to survive, and could therefore weather difficult years even without stocks of preserved food.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari

The researchers measured salivary pH rather than relying only on the acidity of the beverages themselves.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026

Some users worry that relying on AI to optimize interactions sacrifices the skills needed for unscripted conversations.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

He described how what happened has "affected my confidence in relying on emergency services where there's an immediate threat to life".

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh told Wall Street in June to stop relying on the central bank to telegraph its every move in advance.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026

I am starting to get tired of relying on words.

From "Every Day" by David Levithan