noun ·3 syllables ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The state of being dependent, of relying upon another. countable, uncountable

   "He had a deep dependence on her for guidance."

2. 2
   the state of relying on or being controlled by someone or something else wordnet
3. 3
   An irresistible physical or psychological need, especially for a chemical substance. countable, uncountable

   "Her dependence on cocaine led to her ruin."

4. 4
   being abnormally tolerant to and dependent on something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming (especially alcohol or narcotic drugs) wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

addictiona habitabettorabuseacceptationacception

Antonyms

All antonyms

aseityindependence

Example

More examples

"Japan's dependence on foreign trade is not necessarily very high as a percentage of GNP."

Etymology

From Middle French dépendance. Morphologically depend + -ence.

Related phrases

caffeine dependenceco-dependencedensity dependencedependence grammarlinear dependencepath dependencesubstance dependence

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.