overreliance

noun

over·​re·​li·​ance ˌō-vər-ri-ˈlī-ən(t)s 

: the act or state of relying on something or someone too much : excessive reliance

One of my top priorities next year is to have an energy policy that begins to address all facets of our overreliance on fossil fuels.

—Barack Obama

I shy away from prescribing sleeping pills … to avoid overreliance on them.

—Andrew Weil

Examples of overreliance in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Capacity and infrastructure have long cemented China's monopoly on toy production, although increasing geopolitical risks and the dangers of an overreliance on one country exposed during the Covid-19 pandemic have propelled some toymakers to diversify. —Ruxandra Iordache, CNBC, 23 July 2025

However, in the financial sector, there is still a palpable tension between the promise of automation and the fear of overreliance on machines. —Chidambaram Bhat, Forbes.com, 17 July 2025

In fact, Iran’s military exemplifies the pitfalls of such an overreliance on low-cost weapons systems. —Michael C. Horowitz, Foreign Affairs, 4 July 2025

One cause, some officers told me, was an overreliance on intelligence gathered by technological means. —Dexter Filkins, New Yorker, 14 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1833, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for overreliance

• appliance
• compliance
• defiance
• reliance
• geoscience
• neuroscience
• noncompliance
• pseudoscience
• science