Meanings
noundependence (countable and uncountable, plural dependences)
plural dependences · alternative archaic dependance
- countableuncountableAn irresistible physical or psychological need, especially for a chemical substance.
Her dependence on cocaine led to her ruin.
Synonyms & antonyms
Opposite
nounthe state of relying on or being controlled by someone or something else
Similar
Broader
nounbeing abnormally tolerant to and dependent on something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming (especially alcohol or narcotic drugs)
Broader
physical conditionphysiological statephysiological condition
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Frenchdépendance
- Englishdependence
From Middle French dépendance. Morphologically depend + -ence.
More words from Middle French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic اِسْتِنَاد, إِدْمَان
- اِسْتِنَاد (istinād)state of being dependent
- إِدْمَان (ʔidmān)irresistible need
Bulgarian зави́симост, зави́симост
- зави́симост (zavísimost)state of being dependent
- зави́симост (zavísimost)irresistible need
Catalan dependència
- dependènciastate of being dependent
Chinese Mandarin 依賴性 /依赖性, 成癮 /成瘾
- 依賴性 /依赖性 (yīlàixìng)state of being dependent
- 成癮 /成瘾 (chéngyǐn)irresistible need
Czech závislost, závislost
- závisloststate of being dependent
- závislostirresistible need
Danish afhængighed, tillid
- afhængighedstate of being dependent
- tillidstate of being dependent
- afhængighedirresistible need
Dutch afhankelijkheid, nood
- afhankelijkheidstate of being dependent
- noodstate of being dependent
- verslavingirresistible need
- afhankelijkheidirresistible need
Esperanto dependeco, manio
- dependecostate of being dependent
- manioirresistible need
- pasioirresistible need
Finnish riippuvuus, riippuvuus
- riippuvuusstate of being dependent
- riippuvuusirresistible need
French dépendance, dépendance
- dépendancestate of being dependent
- dépendanceirresistible need
German Abhängigkeit, Abhängigkeit
- Abhängigkeitstate of being dependent
- Abhängigkeitirresistible need
Greek εξάρτηση, εξάρτηση
- εξάρτηση (exártisi)state of being dependent
- εξάρτηση (exártisi)irresistible need
- εθισμός (ethismós)irresistible need
Hebrew תְּלוּת
- תְּלוּת (tlut)state of being dependent
Hindi निर्भरता, आश्रित
- निर्भरता (nirbhartā)state of being dependent
- आश्रित (āśrit)irresistible need
Hungarian függés
- függésstate of being dependent
Irish spleáchas, spleá
- spleáchasstate of being dependent
- spleástate of being dependent
- tuilleamaístate of being dependent
Italian dipendenza
- dipendenzastate of being dependent
Japanese 依存, 嗜癖
- 依存 (izon)state of being dependent
- 嗜癖 (shiheki)irresistible need
- 中毒 (chūdoku)irresistible need
Korean 의존, 중독
- 의존 (uijon)state of being dependent
- 중독 (jungdok)irresistible need
Latvian atkarība, atkarība
- atkarībastate of being dependent
- atkarībairresistible need
Norwegian Bokmål avhengighet
- avhengighetstate of being dependent
Polish zależność, bluszczowatość
- zależnośćstate of being dependent
- bluszczowatośćstate of being dependent
- bluszczowośćstate of being dependent
Portuguese dependência, vício
- dependênciastate of being dependent
- vícioirresistible need
- dependênciairresistible need
Romanian dependență, subjugare
- dependențăstate of being dependent
- subjugareirresistible need
- dependențăirresistible need
- subordonareirresistible need
Russian зави́симость, зави́симость
- зави́симость (zavísimostʹ)state of being dependent
- зави́симость (zavísimostʹ)irresistible need
Slovak závislosť, závislosť
- závislosťstate of being dependent
- závislosťirresistible need
Spanish dependencia, dependencia
- dependenciastate of being dependent
- dependenciairresistible need
Swahili utegemezi
- utegemezistate of being dependent
Swedish beroende, avhängighet
- beroendestate of being dependent
- avhängighetstate of being dependent
- beroendeirresistible need
Tamil சார்பு
- சார்பு (cārpu)state of being dependent
Ukrainian зале́жність, зале́жність
- зале́жність (zaléžnistʹ)state of being dependent
- зале́жність (zaléžnistʹ)irresistible need
- адди́кція (addýkcija)irresistible need
Cite this entry
APA
dependence. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dependence
MLA
“dependence.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dependence. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dependence,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dependence.
Source: dependence on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.