reliability

noun

re·​li·​abil·​i·​ty ri-ˌlī-ə-ˈbi-lə-tē 

1

: the quality or state of being reliable

2

: the extent to which an experiment, test, or measuring procedure yields the same results on repeated trials

Synonyms

• reliableness
• dependability
• responsibility
• trustworthiness
• solidity

Examples of reliability in a Sentence

we never had reason to question the reliability of the park rangers in the event of an emergency

Recent Examples on the Web

If either achieves even half the cadence and reliability of Falcon 9, the private space industry will finally move from a one-horse race to a true competition. —Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 8 Sep. 2025

This creates a self-healing pipeline that adapts speed versus reliability trade-offs continuously without manual intervention. —Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025

And the Omni promises to graph particle size with more reliability than previous attempts at home analyzers. —Matthew Korfhage, Wired News, 13 Aug. 2025

As the economy teeters amid weak jobs growth and ongoing debates about government data reliability, all eyes are on the BLS and whether its monthly jobs report will remain a fixture in tracking the health of American employment. —Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 12 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1810, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for reliability

• acceptability
• accessibility
• adaptability
• admissibility
• advisability
• affordability
• allowability
• amenability
• amiability
• appealability
• applicability
• availability

Kids Definition

reliability

noun

re·​li·​abil·​i·​ty ri-ˌlī-ə-ˈbil-ət-ē 

plural reliabilities

: the quality or state of being reliable

Medical Definition

reliability

noun

re·​li·​abil·​i·​ty ri-ˌlī-ə-ˈbil-ət-ē 

plural reliabilities

: the extent to which an experiment, test, or measuring procedure yields the same results on repeated trials