outlive
Americanverb (used with object)
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to live longer than; survive (a person, period, etc.).
She outlived her husband by many years.
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to outlast; live or last through.
The ship outlived the storm. He hopes to outlive the stigma of his imprisonment.
verb
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to live longer than (someone)
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to live beyond (a date or period)
he outlived the century
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to live through (an experience)
Synonym Usage
See survive.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has outlivedperfect 3rd person singular
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have outlivedperfect
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are outlivingprogressive
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have been outlivingperfect progressive
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has been outlivingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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is outlivingprogressive 3rd person singular
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outlivessingular 3rd person
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am outlivingprogressive 1st person singular
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outlivingparticiple
Past
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had outlivedperfect
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was outlivingprogressive singular
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were outlivingprogressive plural
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outlivedparticiple
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outlivedsimple
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had been outlivingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of outlive
First recorded in 1425–75, outlive is from the late Middle English word outliven. See out-, live 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When old records make it to a landfill, they’re not only likely to outlive the site, but can also leach plasticizers, a Keele University report found.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026
If you outlive the term, you may be able to extend coverage, but the premiums will rise sharply, because the policy converts to annually renewable rates.
From MarketWatch • May 6, 2026
And, like Senna, his legacy will long outlive him.
From BBC • May 2, 2026
In all probability, Voyager 1 and its siblings—launched in 1977 to surveil our solar system’s outer planets and moons and then head into interstellar space—will vastly outlive humans, the sun and the planet Earth.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026
“And she’ll outlive us all, little tiny thing that she is.”
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
