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codependent

American

[koh-di-pen-duhnt] / ˌkoʊ dɪˈpɛn dənt /

adjective

of or relating to a relationship in which one person is physically or psychologically addicted, as to alcohol or gambling, and the other person is psychologically dependent on the first in an unhealthy way.

noun

one who is codependent or in a codependent relationship.

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of codependent

First recorded in 1985–90

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.

Are these three subtitle terms — codependent, perfectionist, people-pleasing — interchangeable or interlinked?

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 15, 2026

Allowing yourself to be guilted into signing a loan agreement is codependent behavior, and you and your husband need third-party intervention/mediation.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 21, 2026

Today, in the real 2025, knowing that people are developing serious and codependent attachments to chatbots, the story Jonze presents in Her is much, much more loaded and pervasive.

From Slate • Apr. 11, 2025

As Nicholson’s lovelorn codependent shifts personalities as she changes from partner to partner, Baker asks how headstrong girls grow up to become malleable women.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 26, 2025

Maybe I'm codependent and I've replaced my mother with Ron.

From "Ask the Passengers" by A.S. King

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023