reliance
Americannoun
-
confident or trustful dependence.
- Synonyms:
- assurance, faith, trust, confidence
-
something or someone relied on.
noun
-
dependence, confidence, or trust
-
something or someone upon which one relies
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of reliance
Explanation
The word reliance is the noun form of the verb rely, which means to depend. Your reliance on the Internet for your information will be your undoing, if the power ever goes out. A person's reliance on something is their dependence on it. A mime's reliance on silence is the key to his performance: if he speaks, he'll be ruined. Your reliance on the kindness of strangers makes sense when you consider that you'll never run out of strangers upon whom to rely. Too bad you can't just lean on the folks that you know.
Vocabulary lists containing reliance
Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 7
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Space
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"Rosa Parks" by Nikki Giovanni
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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.
It said this would "help get bills down for good in the long term" by reducing the UK's reliance on gas for electricity production.
From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026
A key measure of an economy’s reliance on outside sources of funding is the current account deficit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026
Experts say the new deal reflected a shared initiative to diversify commercial ties and reduce reliance on major trading partners.
From Barron's ● Oct. 18, 2026
He essentially said that Obergefell is safe because Americans have a reliance interest in it.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
Sometimes a reliance on averages can have more serious consequences than misshapen cubes.
From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
