dependence

noun de·pen·dence \ di-ˈpen-dən(t)s \

variants: or less commonly dependance

|Updated on: 18 Jun 2018

Examples: dependence in a Sentence

Definition of dependence

1 : the quality or state of being dependent; especially : the quality or state of being influenced or determined by or subject to another

2 : reliance, trust

3 : one that is relied on

4 a : drug addiction

developed a dependence on painkillers

b : habituation 2b

See dependence defined for English-language learners

See dependence defined for kids

Examples of dependence in a Sentence

The company was hurt by its dependence on government loans.
Our dependence upon foreign oil makes our economy vulnerable.
a harmful dependence on foreign oil

Recent Examples of dependence from the Web

With North Korea’s relations with the U.S., Seoul, and China now on the mend, and South Korea trying to reduce its dependence on coal and nuclear power, the pipeline would seem an obvious piece of economic diplomacy.

— marc champion, Bloomberg.com, "There’s a Gas Pipeline Deal to Be Done With Kim Jong Un. Any Takers?," 14 June 2018
The podcast probes our dependence on technology at a time when our data has never been more vulnerable.

— eliana dockterman, Time, "Best Podcasts of 2018 So Far," 5 June 2018
Power bills in the U.S. territory are roughly twice the average of those in the U.S. mainland, although the island has been reducing its dependence on petroleum.

— CBS News, "2 more months to restore power in Puerto Rico, official says," 31 May 2018
Right as the world is questioning our dependence on hiding behind social media feeds and algorithms, Monáe is pulling back the curtain on her own cyborg persona.

— refinery29.com, "Janelle Monae: How An Outsider Became a Visionary Superstar," 17 May 2018
Increasingly, China has been trying to wean itself off its dependence on foreign goods.

— lucinda shen, Fortune, "Saving ZTE Isn't Just About Chinese Jobs. Americans Firms Also Have a Lot to Lose," 14 May 2018
El-Sissi says the country is building desalinization plants on the Red Sea to reduce its dependence on the river as Ethiopia nears completion of the dam.

— Fox News, "Fearing Ethiopian dam, Egypt bans water-intensive crops," 23 Apr. 2018
The hardest part of combating climate change is, predictably, reducing our dependence on fossil fuels as a power source.

— avery thompson, Popular Mechanics, "Closing America's Failing Nuclear Plants Would Set Clean Energy Back More Than a Decade," 18 Apr. 2018
Alberta’s New Democratic government badly needs a pipeline to carry the province’s oil to the ocean to reduce its dependence on America, which buys 99% of Canada’s oil exports.

— The Economist, "Kinder Morgan’s frustrated attempt to build an oil pipeline reflects badly on Canada," 14 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dependence.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.