outlast
Americanverb (used with object)
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outlasts,
present (3rd person singular)
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outlasted,
past participle, past
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outlasting
present participle
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to endure or last longer than.
The pyramids outlasted the civilization that built them.
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to live longer than; outlive.
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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outlastsimple
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outlastssimple
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have outlastedperfect
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has outlastedperfect
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am outlastingprogressive
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are outlastingprogressive
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is outlastingprogressive
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have been outlastingperfect progressive
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has been outlastingperfect progressive
Past
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outlastedsimple
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had outlastedperfect
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was outlastingprogressive
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were outlastingprogressive
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had been outlastingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of outlast
Explanation
To outlast is to live or survive longer than someone (or something) else. Sturdy old buildings will outlast newer, more flimsy and cheaply made structures. Typically, your parents will outlast your grandparents, and you will outlast your parents. You might convince yourself to buy some outrageously expensive shoes by thinking about the fact that they're so well made, they'll probably outlast the much cheaper pair you were considering. And you might wonder why a terrible TV show has been on for years, managing to outlast several brilliant ones that were cancelled after a single season.
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.
See Examples For:
Coupled with his brother’s recordings, it taught him that art could outlast mortal limitations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026
This oversight will outlast President Trump’s time in office.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
Dr Simon Kaye, author of the Re:State report told the BBC that No 10 North had to be big enough to outlast the Burnham administration.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
"We want to go beyond personal relationships so that the relationship becomes more institutionally based and can outlast changes in government," the source said on condition of anonymity.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
Dad always worked from sunup until sundown in the weeks before the first snow, trying to stockpile enough money from hauling scrap and building barns to outlast the winter, when jobs were scarce.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
Now, with royalty streams from two approved drugs and a pipeline built on its platform for engineering gut-stable peptides, Protagonist may have a business that outlasts the current fad.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
Ben Shelton to the semis 🔥 Shelton outlasts the defending champion Alcaraz in a five-set thriller!
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
A prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz, he added, could produce damage to energy infrastructure that outlasts the conflict itself.
From Barron's ● May 1, 2026
If your debt outlasts the Department of Education, alas, you’re not out of the woods yet.
From Slate ● Mar. 26, 2025
“To return to Horatio’s question,” I said with a reasoned tone, “I believe that a virtuous mind outlasts the fleeting beauty of youth and thus is more desirable.”
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
In his 28 years at Apple — 15 of those as CEO — Cook has outlasted the tenure of Jobs, the company’s defining co-founder.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 29, 2026
The forfeiture fight outlasted his flying career, and last year it produced the ruling the Supreme Court will now review.
From Slate ● Jul. 28, 2026
From his cell, Jin has sought to energize his congregants, reminding them of ideals that have outlasted political regimes for centuries as he defies Xi’s pursuit of total ideological control.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
Both actors understood the task: to interrogate what drove each man to create music and why one’s compositions outlasted the other.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2026
Indeed, the wealth of Egypt had political effects that long outlasted the Hellenistic epoch.
From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro
The Mustang has also been notable for outlasting its many competitors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Turning off the machines and meeting the folks next door could be the key to outlasting or escaping this cyberpunk nightmare.
From Salon ● Feb. 20, 2026
Australian Alexander Volkanovski cemented his supremacy in the UFC featherweight division on Sunday after again outlasting rival Diego Lopes in a gruelling rematch in Sydney.
From Barron's ● Feb. 1, 2026
That’s why most wars are won by outlasting the other side, as the historian Cathal Nolan has pointed out.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 26, 2025
The controversy continued through the eighteenth century, probably outlasting its cause; for defences on the side of the Jews ceased.
From History of Free Thought in Reference to The Christian Religion by Adam Storey Farrar
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.
