reliance

reliance — noun

1. a situation in which a person or group needs and trusts someone or something to

1.nounB2
Definition

a situation in which a person or group needs and trusts someone or something to give them the support, help, or protection they require

Example

After the earthquake, the village's reliance on outside aid grew as supplies ran low.

collocation: reliance on + source of help

Layla placed too much reliance on phone navigation and got lost in the old town.

collocation: place reliance on + technology

Common collocations
  • heavy reliance
  • growing reliance
  • complete reliance
  • total reliance
  • excessive reliance
  • reduce reliance
  • place reliance on
  • reliance on imports
Synonyms
  • dependence

    closer in meaning; dependence can suggest a stronger sense of need, while reliance also implies trust

  • trust

    focuses on confidence rather than need; you can trust someone without depending on them

  • confidence

    suggests belief in someone's ability or reliability, not necessarily a state of needing them

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

reliance + on + noun phrase

reliance + upon + noun phrase

place + reliance + on + noun phrase

Usage Note

Frequently used with a modifier (heavy, growing, complete, total) before it. The preposition on (or more formally upon) is required when stating what is relied on — reliance cannot be followed by of, with, or in.

Common Mistakes

His reliance with his brother is very strong.
His reliance on his brother is very strong.
reliance is always followed by on or upon, never with.
I have a strong reliance of my parents.
I have a strong reliance on my parents.
the wrong preposition changes the meaning entirely.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Dependence is the closest synonym and often interchangeable, but it emphasises need — you depend on something you cannot do without. Reliance adds the element of trust and choice: you rely on something you believe will work. Trust centres on confidence in someone's character or ability, not necessarily on need — you can trust a friend without being dependent on them. Confidence is similar to trust but is more about belief in a positive outcome than about a relationship of support. For example: 'The island's heavy reliance on tourism makes it fragile' suggests both dependence and expectation; 'her complete dependence on her parents' sounds more urgent; 'I have confidence in your decision' does not imply that you need the person at all.

dependence ↗trust ↗confidence ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • place reliance on
  • reduce reliance on
  • increase reliance on

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchEnglish

Reliance was formed in English around the 1600s from the verb rely and the noun suffix -ance. The verb rely came from Old French relier, meaning 'to fasten or bind together', which in turn came from Latin religare — a combination of re- (back) and ligare (to bind). The same Latin root gives us 'ligament' and 'obligation'. The sense of binding evolved into a figurative idea of binding oneself to someone or something for support, which is how the modern meaning of needing and trusting developed.