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

That differs from the existing Power of Siberia pipeline, launched in 2019, which has the capacity to move around 38 billion cubic metres of gas annually from eastern Siberia to northeastern China.

From Barron's • May 19, 2026

The existing data centers consumed 22% of Nevada’s electric generating capacity in 2024, DRI calculated.

From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026

Researchers asked whether a single clock could experience two different rates of time simultaneously while existing in a quantum superposition.

From Science Daily • May 18, 2026

Bias, child protection and intellectual property involve a much larger universe of developers and deployers, and existing regulatory models can answer those challenges.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 18, 2026

He began to feel like a ghost in his own life, existing in a forced blind spot of the world.

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman

Related Words

• actual
• current
• extant