state the way something is with respect to its main attributes; "the current state of knowledge"; "his state of health"; "in a weak financial state"
helplessness powerlessness revealed by an inability to act; "in spite of their weakness the group remains active"
reliance certainty based on past experience; "he wrote the paper with considerable reliance on the work of other scientists"; "he put more trust in his own two legs than in the gun"
dependence -
being abnormally tolerant to and dependent on something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming (especially alcohol or narcotic drugs)