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dependence

noun

Simple meaning

Relying on or being controlled by someone or something else.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

dihpehnduhns

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

dɪˈpɛndəns

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. The state of relying on or being controlled by someone or something else

  2. The state of being dependent, of relying upon another.

  3. An irresistible physical or psychological need, especially for a chemical substance.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Varies by meaning

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: The state of relying on or being controlled by someone or something else

Used this way, dependence is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

  • dependance , rarer, so it draws attention

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use dependence

  • “The plant showed a strong dependence on sunlight to grow.”

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Irresistible / abnormally

physical dependencealcohol dependencedrug dependenceenergy dependence

Other combinations

temperature dependencemutual dependencefrequency dependence

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • dependableadjectiveDerived adjective

    Worthy of reliance or trust.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: relying on

dependanceRare

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.