- present participle of exist.
existing
Americanadjective
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already or previously in place, before being replaced, altered, or added to.
Fundraising costs money, and recruiting new donors is more expensive than asking existing supporters to give a little more.
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having actual being or life.
The great ornithologist Alexander Wetmore, who died in 1978, allegedly declared that all existing species of birds had already been discovered.
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occurring in a specified place or under specified conditions.
Members of committees dealing with the behavior of intelligence services met to discuss the existing challenges and exchange best practices.
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achieving only the basic needs of existence, as food and shelter.
Forrest Bess was a marginally existing bait fisherman and artist who lived in a ramshackle cabin on the Gulf of Mexico.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of existing
Explanation
If something is existing, it's real. When you make a list of existing mammals, you can't include unicorns, because they don't really exist. Something that's real can be said to exist, or to be existing. The existing laws in your state are the ones that are actually on the books, and your existing friends are the ones you really have, and who are all alive and well. The verb exist, at the root of the adjective existing, comes from the Latin existere, "come into being," from a combination of ex, "out," and sistere, "take a stand."
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.
The broadcaster said it was "currently assessing the BBC's existing studio facilities around the UK as well as other external studio options in the West Midlands".
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
After the Supreme Court struck down all existing death-penalty laws in Furman v.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
“They’re not really buying a new audience — they’re buying a new toy for their existing audience to play with.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
Rather than replacing existing treatments, which can include medications and surgically implanted devices, the technology could provide another option tailored to individual medical needs.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026
The North Carolina government—half of which crowded into Garrison’s dining room that night—purchased existing slaves from farmers at favorable rates, just as Great Britain had done when it abolished slavery decades ago.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
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.
