1
as in anchors
something or someone to which one looks for support
he's been the family's foremost reliance in times of trouble many times
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in dependencies
the quality or state of needing something or someone
a baby's reliance on her parents his reliance on his next-door neighbor for all the local gossip
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for reliances
Noun
-
Entrepreneurs can look for moments where values meet action and use those as narrative anchors.—
Melissa Jun Rowley,
Rolling Stone,
29 Apr. 2026 -
In the foyer, a Sol LeWitt wall drawing anchors the entry — less of a decorative accent than statement of intent.—
David Caraccio,
Sacbee.com,
29 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The popular code library is just one example of the broader problem of critical software dependencies that have never been seriously audited.—
Evan Johnson,
IEEE Spectrum,
30 Apr. 2026
-
The developer just adds it to their dependencies and calls a function to wrap the key.—
Dan Goodin,
ArsTechnica,
23 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
As songwriters, the Ottavianos usually only needed a metaphor, a single beautiful image, or a fun double entendre to serve as narrative backbones.—
Billie Bugara,
Pitchfork,
26 Apr. 2026
-
There's also a perception that squishy invertebrates — creatures without backbones — weren't formidable enough to join the ranks of top predators.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
24 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
So, here was Ondaatje just writing about his day-t0-day, grappling with the intense swings of emotion any parent must reckon with as their children grow into autonomy, forever leaving behind the heartbreakingly sweet (and frequently tedious) dependences of childhood.—
Jonny Diamond,
Literary Hub,
9 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Downriver from the Shoshone Falls are the Pillar Falls, a low waterfall split by rock pillars.—
Evie Carrick,
Travel + Leisure,
26 Apr. 2026
-
As their mutual competitiveness grows shockingly ugly, Niall learns to turn Ruben’s Samsonian strength and fury against him, knocking down the pillars of Ruben’s own life.—
Inkoo Kang,
New Yorker,
24 Apr. 2026
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.
Cite this Entry
“Reliances.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/reliances. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
