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
- misreliance noun
- nonreliance noun
- overreliance noun
- reliant adjective
- reliantly adverb
- superreliance noun
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.
The state’s gasoline refining capacity is also falling off, increasing reliance on imports and highlighting California’s status as an isolated energy island without gas pipelines to bring in supply from other states.
From Los Angeles Times • May 3, 2026
Nevertheless, these pipelines only cover a fraction of the two nations' pre-war exports and would need to be expanded if either country wanted to completely end their reliance on the Strait of Hormuz.
From Barron's • May 1, 2026
The most immediate physical disruption to fuel supplies has been felt in Southeast Asia, given the region’s heavy reliance on oil flows through the Middle East, strategists at J.P.
From MarketWatch • May 1, 2026
"We still have massive reliance on oil and gas. We're still exposed to energy price shocks," says the party leader, Alex Cole-Hamilton.
From BBC • Apr. 29, 2026
The main obstacle for the diffusion process being developed by Urey was its reliance on uranium hexafluoride gas, the detestable “hex,” which lived up to its nickname by severely corroding every permeable barrier Urey tried.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
