interdependent
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word 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.
A core conviction, she wrote in “Outrageous Acts,” was “that sex and race discrimination are so pragmatically linked and anthropologically interdependent that one cannot be successfully uprooted without taking on the other.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
And since their father, Richard Williams, largely kept them out of junior tournaments, that interdependent learning likely proved especially potent.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
And even in a conservative state like North Dakota, where I live, socialist, or interdependent, arrangements are seen as pillars of the community.
From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2026
Another limitation is that VBayesMM treats bacteria as independent actors, even though they often interact in complex, interdependent networks.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 10, 2025
In art, conception and execution go hand in hand and are so completely interdependent that they cannot be separated from each other.
From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson
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.
