reliability
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of reliability
Explanation
It's nice when someone compliments your reliability because it means they think you are dependable. Things that are known for reliability? Your best friend, sunrise, sunset and unfortunately also taxes. The word is a new one and didn't become common until after 1850 during the Industrial Revolution. Before things were mass produced, how reliable they were was not such an issue. Interesting fact: reliability is an American word, and the Brits scoffed at its new usage.
Vocabulary lists containing reliability
Monster
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Mechanical Engineering
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Structural Engineering
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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.
“Despite this outcome, the City remains committed to improving streetlight reliability, repairing outages faster, and building a sustainable funding path for streetlight operations and maintenance,” the group statement said.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 26, 2026
While she says customer satisfaction and the airline's reliability has come on "leaps and bounds", she doesn't ever want to say the job is done.
From BBC • Jun. 26, 2026
“As intelligent machines become increasingly autonomous and operate around people, the requirements for safety, security, reliability, and real-time determinism become even more important,” he added.
From Barron's • Jun. 25, 2026
Bennett-Jenkins also said the lack of information provided to the Tates limited the ability of the brothers to identify evidence in their defence, or to assess its reliability ahead of any future trial.
From BBC • Jun. 23, 2026
Fact: Grapes don’t always explode with scientific reliability.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
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.
