Showing results for "existing"

• present participle of exist.

existing

American  

[ig-zis-ting] / ɪgˈzɪs tɪŋ /

adjective

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

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Other Word Forms

• nonexisting
  adjective
• unexisting
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of existing

exist ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. )

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

See Examples For:

existing

Further, because the BLS surveys only existing employers, brand-new businesses aren’t included in it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

It added existing waiting lists for gynaecology or surgical capacity would not be affected as additional clinical capacity had been found.

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026

In May, Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink told Congress that the U.S. “probably” needs a new launch facility capable of supporting heavy- and superheavy-lift rockets, citing constraints at existing spaceports.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026

International calls for greater restrictions on autonomous weapons systems come as negotiators prepare to meet in Geneva in November to strengthen the existing Convention on Conventional Weapons.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026

The pump bucket and pump handle, for example, were straightforward applications of existing technologies, and the boiler was basically a large brewer’s copper.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Related Words

• actual
• current
• extant