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

Over the last two years, prominent documentary festivals have hosted several conversations around the industry’s overreliance on streamers and the importance of nurturing the public broadcaster ecosystem that has allowed European documentaries to flourish. —Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 11 Mar. 2026

The overreliance on Maxey is going to be there as long as George and Embiid aren’t in the lineup. —Tony Jones, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2026

These controls are reassuringly analog holdovers at a time when overreliance on touchscreens often ends in distracted driving and a loss of connection to physical objects. —Basem Wasef, Robb Report, 25 Feb. 2026

May notes an overreliance on screens also increases the risk of anxiety, depression, eating disorders, self harm and a sedentary lifestyle. —Lina Ruiz, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 19 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1833, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for overreliance

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