overreliance

noun

over·​re·​li·​ance ˌō-vər-ri-ˈlī-ən(t)s How to pronounce overreliance (audio)
: 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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Likewise, an overreliance on certain key individuals risks single points of failure, lost mentoring opportunities and gridlock. Expert Panel®, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2025 The problem is that the DOGE outlook also fails to account for all the ways in which an overreliance on the private sector has already weakened American life in very tangible ways. Adam Chandler, TIME, 20 Feb. 2025 There is less the actors can do about the script’s overreliance on Wikipedia dramaturgy, that bald expedience in which facts deemed useful to the story are only partly digested as dialogue. Jesse Green, New York Times, 14 Feb. 2025 Having devices on hand at all times is a recipe for student distraction and overreliance on technology. New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 1 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for overreliance

Word History

First Known Use

1833, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of overreliance was in 1833

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Cite this Entry

“Overreliance.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/overreliance. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.

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