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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

codependence noun
codependency noun

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.

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

Writer-director Michael Shanks plays their discordant musical taste like a minor joke among all the major reasons why their codependent relationship has hit the skids.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 18, 2025

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

"Objectively, the film is also a critique of a codependent relationship between a very perverse narcissist and a very vulnerable, echo personality," Szaniawski said of the dynamic between Jack and Wendy.

From Salon • Oct. 7, 2024

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