living

[liv-ing]

adjective

1. having life; being alive; not dead.

   living persons.

   Synonyms: quick, live
   Antonyms: dead

2. in actual existence or use; extant.

   living languages.

3. active or thriving; vigorous; strong.

   a living faith.

   Synonyms: flourishing, lively

4. burning or glowing, as a coal.

5. flowing freely, as water.

6. pertaining to, suitable for, or sufficient for existence or subsistence.

   living conditions; a living wage.

7. of or relating to living persons.

   within living memory.

8. lifelike; true to life, as a picture or narrative.

9. in its natural state and place; not uprooted, changed, etc..

   living rock.

10. Informal.,  very; absolute (used as an intensifier).

    You scared the living daylights out of me!

    He's making her life a living hell.

noun

1. the act or condition of a person or thing that lives.

   Living is very expensive these days.

2. the means of maintaining life; livelihood.

   to earn one's living.

   Synonyms: subsistence, sustenance

3. a particular manner, state, or status of life.

   luxurious living.

4. (used with a plural verb),  Usually the living living persons collectively.

   glad to be back among the living.

5. British.,  the benefice of a member of the clergy.

living

/ ˈlɪvɪŋ /

adjective

1. 1. possessing life; not dead

   2. ( as collective noun preceded by the )

      the living

2. having the characteristics of life (used esp to distinguish organisms from nonliving matter)

3. currently in use or valid

   living language

4. seeming to be real

   a living image

5. (of animals or plants) existing in the present age; extant Compare extinct

6. geology another word for live 2

7. presented by actors before a live audience

   living theatre

8. (prenominal) (intensifier)

   the living daylights

noun

1. the condition of being alive

2. the manner in which one conducts one's life

   fast living

3. the means, esp the financial means, whereby one lives

4. Church of England another term for benefice

5. (modifier) of, involving, or characteristic of everyday life

   living area

6. (modifier) of or involving those now alive (esp in the phrase living memory )

Other Word Forms

• livingly adverb
• livingness noun
• nonliving adjective
• quasi-living adjective
• unliving adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of living¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English adjective lyvyng(e); replacing earlier liviende, Old English lifgende ( live ¹, -ing ² ); Middle English noun living(e) ( -ing ¹ )

Example Sentences

Almost 70 percent of Somalia's population is defined as "multidimensionally poor" by the United Nations -- tracking education, health, living standards, services and inclusion.

Read more on Barron's

Before proceeding, today’s Dutch and Belgian practitioners of psychiatric euthanasia must affirm that a human life is not worth living.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Allison Powell and her husband had been living since September in a Sonder apartment in lower Manhattan while he received treatment for head and neck cancer.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The mother-of-six is living with other relatives in a borrowed tent, which she says collapsed on them during the recent heavy rain.

Read more on BBC

Some in the business community will interpret this as possibly heralding another higher-than-inflation rise in the national living wage, which also tends to push up other salaries in a firm's wage structure.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• existence 
• income 
• job 
• livelihood 

When To Use

What are other ways to say living?

A person’s living is their means of maintaining life. How is this term different from livelihood and maintenance? Find out on Thesaurus.com.