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.
See Examples For:
The head of Boeing's Commercial Airplanes division, Stephanie Pope, said that the order "reflects the strong demand we are seeing for the 737 MAX family's efficiency, reliability and versatility".
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
Utilities can, and should, plan for these resources as integrated community power networks that improve reliability while helping avoid or defer costly infrastructure investments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
“These decisions are made by BEA career staff to maintain the accuracy and reliability of BEA’s estimates, without other considerations,” Connie O’Connell, the agency’s head of public affairs, says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
Each company will manage procurement activities, evaluate comparable previous lunar landers, and apply lessons learned to improve mission reliability.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 14, 2026
The early data-processing machines weren’t paragons of reliability.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
Pyongyang has released footage of undersea missile launches, but the projectiles’ reliabilities and capabilities are unknown.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 8, 2023
But there is a great difference in the reliabilities of reports made by trained and by untrained men.
From The Business of Mining A brief non-technical exposition of the principles involved in the profitable operation of mines by Hoskin, Arthur J.
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.
