free-living
Americanadjective
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following a way of life in which one freely indulges the appetites, desires, etc.
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Biology. noting an organism that is neither parasitic, symbiotic, nor sessile.
adjective
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given to ready indulgence of the appetites
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(of animals and plants) not parasitic; existing independently
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of free-living
First recorded in 1810–20
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.
Maerl beds may closely resemble corals but they are in fact thousands of pieces of free-living calcified seaweed that can interlock to create a carpet brimming with life.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
It’s also a parasite — because who needs to be free-living when you’re this fabulous?
From Salon ● May 27, 2025
Photosynthesis takes place inside chloroplasts, small compartments within plant cells that contain their own genome, reflecting their past as free-living photosynthetic bacteria before they were engulfed and co-opted by plants.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 4, 2024
And most recently, some of those species again traded their ability to make silk for a free-living, clinging life in these faster waters.
From Science Magazine ● Jan. 12, 2024
They are much less closely related to me than to each other and to the free-living bacteria out under the hill.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
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.
