come alive

Save This Word!

Also, come to life.

Become vigorous or lively. For example, It took some fast rhythms to make the dancers come alive, or As soon as he mentioned ice cream, the children came to life. The adjective alive has been used in the sense of “vivacious” since the 1700s. Also, the variant originally (late 1600s) meant “to recover from a faint or apparent death.” [Colloquial; first half of 1900s]

Appear real or believable, as in It's really hard to make this prose come to life. Also see look alive.

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Words nearby come alive

Comdt., come, come about, come across, come again?, come alive, come-all-ye, come along, come a long way, come and get it, come and go

How to use come alive in a sentence

Meanwhile, in Florida, Bush was flooded with questions about whether gay marriage could possibly come to the Sunshine State.
Jeb Bush’s Unseen Anti-Gay Marriage Emails|Jackie Kucinich|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
These generally come from the outside, from cultural pressures and messages.
How Skinny Is Too Skinny? Israel Bans ‘Underweight’ Models|Carrie Arnold|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
But there is an underlying feeling that the worst is yet to come.
Europe’s Islam Haters Say We Told You So|Barbie Latza Nadeau|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
My agent at the time sent that tape to SNL and then they asked me to come in for an audition.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness|Marlow Stern|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST

And suddenly, we were able to come up with all these scenes for it.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness|Marlow Stern|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In their shelter, Brion and Ulv crouched low and wondered why the attack didn't come.
Sense of Obligation|Henry Maxwell Dempsey (AKA Harry Harrison)
On the thirteenth of the same month they bound to the stake, in order to burn alive, a man who had two religious in his house.
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume XX, 1621-1624|Various
Babylas raised his pale face; he knew what was coming; it had come so many times before.
St. Martin's Summer|Rafael Sabatini
He reached forward and took her hands, and if Mrs. Vivian had come in she would have seen him kneeling at her daughter's feet.
Confidence|Henry James
Vicars' wives had come and gone, but all had submitted, some after a brief struggle, to old Mrs. Wurzel's sway.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills