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

Biodiversity is becoming a food security issue Many heritage grains and livestock breeds are being preserved precisely because experts worry about overreliance on a narrow set of crops and animals. —Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 June 2026

Many heritage grains and livestock breeds are being preserved because experts worry about overreliance on a narrow set of crops and animals — a fragile setup when weather, pests or disease strike at scale. —Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Sacbee.com, 2 June 2026

But an overreliance on technology could intefere with the trial and error, frustration and synergy that are necessary parts of a musician’s artistic development, Mannion said. —Mustakim Hasnath, Fortune, 30 May 2026

Also, Bornman would call for a forensic audit of the department to address mismanagement and an overreliance on overtime. —Steve Scauzillo, Daily News, 29 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1833, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for overreliance

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