Definition

Adjective 1. Dependent on someone or something for support, help, or existence: Being in a state where one cannot function or succeed without the specified person or thing. 2. Having confidence or trust in someone or something: (Archaic or less common) Characterized by reliance; trusting.

Examples of Usage

• Adjective:
  • The country's economy is heavily reliant on tourism.
  • As a child, she was completely reliant on her parents.
  • The new software makes the system less reliant on manual input.
  • (Archaic) He faced the challenge with a reliant spirit.

Advanced Usage

• "To be reliant on/upon": This is the standard and almost exclusive construction used with "reliant". It specifies the object of dependence.
  • Modern agriculture is reliant upon stable weather patterns.
  • She is not reliant on public transportation because she has a car.

Variants and Related Words

• Rely (verb): To depend on with full trust or confidence.
  • We can rely on her to finish the project on time.
• Reliance (noun): The state of being reliant; dependence.
  • There is too much reliance on a single supplier.
• Self-reliant (adjective): Confident in one's own abilities and independent; not needing help from others. (This is a common compound word where "reliant" is part of a larger concept).
  • After years of training, he became a self-reliant explorer.

Synonyms

• Dependent: Contingent on or determined by something else.
• Subject to: Likely or able to be affected by something.
• Trusting: Having or showing reliance on someone's integrity or ability. (Closer to the archaic sense).

Antonyms

• Independent: Not depending on another for livelihood or subsistence.
• Self-sufficient: Able to supply one's own needs without external assistance.

Notes on Meaning

The primary and most frequent meaning of "reliant" in modern English is the first definition: indicating a state of dependence. The second definition, implying trust or confidence, is now considered archaic or very formal and is rarely used in contemporary language. The word almost always appears in the phrase "reliant on/upon [something]."

Adjective

1. relying on another for support
   • dependent on Middle Eastern oil