dependent

dependent adj

1 Dependent, contingent, conditional, relative mean having its existence or nature determined by something else.

Something is dependent which cannot exist or come into existence by itself quite without aid or support

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we are all dependent on one another, every soul of us on earth— Shaw

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the color of the skin is dependent on an adequate supply of blood— Fishbein

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What is contingent takes its character from something that already exists or may exist and therefore is limited or qualified by something extraneous or is incapable of existence apart from it

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a person's conception of love is contingent both on his past experience and on the nature of that experience

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if propriety should die, there could be no impropriety, inasmuch as the continuance of the latter is wholly contingent on the presence of the former— Grandgent

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war is contingent; even dictatorship is contingent. Both depend on . . . ignorance— Pound

}

Something is conditional which depends for its realization, fulfillment, execution, or expression on what may or may not occur or on the performance or observance of certain terms or conditions. Conditional and contingent are often interchangeable, but the former is preferred when eventualities are in the power of the human will

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the pardon is conditional on his behavior during probation

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while the validity of conditional recognition is a matter of debate, it would be entirely novel ... if the conditions for recognition were set forth by a new government— I-Kua Chou

}

Something is relative which cannot be known, considered, or determined apart from its reference to something else and which therefore is affected by the limitations, the instability, or the imperfections of the other thing

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market values are always. relative to the demand

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the idea of civilization is relative . . . any community and any age has its own civilization and its own ideals of civilization— Ellis

}

Analogous words: subject, *liable, open, exposed, susceptible

Antonyms: absolute: infinite: original

Contrasted words: *ultimate, categorical: uncircumscribed, boundless, eternal, illimitable (see INFINITE): underived (see affirmative verb at SPRING)

2 subject, tributary, *subordinate, secondary, collateral

Analogous words: relying, depending, trusting, reckoning, counting (see RELY): subsidiary, subservient, *auxiliary: abased, humbled, debased (see ABASE)

Antonyms: independent