dependency

3 definitions • 5 examples

a situation in which you need something or someone and are unable to continue normally without them:

Some parents infantilize young adults and keep them in a permanent state of dependency.

dependency on We need to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels.

an inability to stop doing something harmful, or using something harmful, especially a drug:

Many of the people who come to the clinic have drug or alcohol dependencies.

He wrote a memoir about his struggles with chemical dependency.

a country that is supported and governed by another country:

Saint Helena is a British dependency whose inhabitants have full UK citizenship.