Lived, meaning “having a certain kind or extent of life,” is not derived from the preterit and past participle of the verb live , but from the noun life , to which the suffix -ed has been added. The original pronunciation, therefore, and one still heard, is , which retains the vowel (ī) of life. Since the f of life changes to v with the addition of this suffix, as when leaf becomes leaved, this lived is identical in spelling with the preterit and past participle lived, and conflation of the two has led to the increasingly frequent pronunciation of this lived as in such combinations as long-lived and short-lived. Both pronunciations are considered standard.
A Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at life, -ed 3
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Conlon has lived with it his whole operatic life and makes it live in performance.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 29, 2026
That’s why “Mormon Stories” emphasizes lived experiences over scholarly discourse, even if it’s less titillating than reality television content.
From Salon • Apr. 29, 2026
Members of this family lived across a wide geographic area, including Africa, Europe, and India.
From Science Daily • Apr. 29, 2026
“Households and firms have just lived through a large inflation shock and may be more sensitive to rising costs. The muscle memory is fresh,” she said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 29, 2026
Upstairs on Tante Jans’s tall mahogany chair sat the lady who ran the rooming house where Otto lived.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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.
