rely
/ɹɪˈlaɪ/verb
rely is spelled R-E-L-Y: 4 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 19 times per million words in written English, the 4,365th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, rely means “To trust; to have confidence in” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in rely?
| Letters | 4: R-E-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 19 times per million words; the 4,365th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is rely?
Rely appears 19 times per million words in written English, the 4,365th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce rely?
- /ɹɪˈlaɪ/
Rely has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-rely.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with rely?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as rely.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: lyre.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of rely
- relies present, singular, he/she/it
- relying participle, present
- relied participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does rely mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To trust; to have confidence in.
- 2
To depend; to be dependent upon.
The city relies on the subway system.
- 3
To be intellectually contingent from; to stem from.
- 4
obsoleteTo fasten, fix, attach
Therefore [they] must needs relye their faithe upon the sillie Ministers faithlesse fidelitie.
- 5
obsoleteTo bring together again; to rally.
Petrius, that was a noble knyght, and bolde and hardy, relied his peple a-boute hym,
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Rely in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense rest with confidence:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | compter sur |
| German | sich verlassen, vertrauen, abhängen |
| Portuguese | contar com |
| Spanish | atenerse, fiarse |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does rely come from?
From Middle English relien, from Old French relier (“fasten, attach, rally, oblige”), from Latin religo (“fasten, bind fast”), from re- + ligo.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).