If I convince someone to abandon a contract for some product they were buying, and get that product from me instead, I have "made them dependent on" me. Perhaps I have "dependify'd" them.
Is there a real word with this usage?
Thanks! :)
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1Sounds like seduction or addiction.– Yosef BaskinJan 25, 2021 at 22:50
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1Not entirely, but it has no inevitable associations (e.g. drugs, sex)– GershyJan 25, 2021 at 23:04
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1@elliot: Allow me. Yes, apparently, it's a continuing service. Like you used to buy coffee from someone. Then someone else came and offered you a better price. You agreed. Because of that your original supplier went out of business, and now it's either you keep buying from the new guy or renounce coffee altogether. He's your only option. You're totally dependent on him for your coffee.– RickyJan 26, 2021 at 2:54
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1Informal: You have hooked them.– Tinfoil HatJan 26, 2021 at 3:20
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1@Ricky: Hooked is a single word. From the OP's example: I have [dependify'd] them. --> I have hooked them.– Tinfoil HatJan 26, 2021 at 5:05
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2 Answers
Engender or Enjoined is the word.
To enjoin them to buy from you is to cause or create a need for them to buy from only you. It is more polite than enslave but amounts to the same thing. So long as they need a product they will look to you. I hope you can be happy in serving them.
I know no such word as you suggest. Two words come to mind:
You have ensnared them.
Ensnare = to catch or get control of something or someone:
You may also have enticed them.
Entice = to persuade someone to do something by offering them something pleasant
Which to choose? ensnare fits your example better.
I point out that you may ensnare (in a new contract) by enticing (with an attractive offer), but that you are unlikely to entice by ensnaring.
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"Ensnare" is a brilliant suggestion! A quick lookup of synonyms gives some additional useful words, including "enmesh" and "entangle".– GershyJan 26, 2021 at 18:25