subsist
Americanverb (used without object)
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to exist; continue in existence.
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to remain alive; live, as on food, resources, etc.
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to have existence in, or by reason of, something.
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to reside, lie, or consist (usually followed byin ).
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Philosophy.
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to have timeless or abstract existence, as a number, relation, etc.
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to have existence, especially independent existence.
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verb (used with object)
verb
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(often foll by on) to be sustained; manage to live
to subsist on milk
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to continue in existence
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(foll by in) to lie or reside by virtue (of); consist
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philosophy
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to exist as a concept or relation rather than a fact
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to be conceivable
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obsolete (tr) to provide with support
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of subsist
1540–50; < Latin subsistere to remain, equivalent to sub- sub- + sistere to stand, make stand; see stand
Explanation
When you subsist, you keep yourself alive. Since most airlines have stopped serving food, many travelers are forced to subsist on little packets of pretzels, even on long flights. To subsist is to feed yourself, or keep yourself going, especially when you just barely manage to do so. A hunger striker might subsist on only water for weeks, and people in developing countries often have to subsist on small rations of rice or grain. Subsist comes from the Latin word subsistere, "to stand firm," but sometimes subsisting makes people feel like they are barely standing, rather than firmly standing.
Vocabulary lists containing subsist
Vocabulary from an excerpt from "Confessions of a 30-Year-Old Gamer," by Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates
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Scythe
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The Awakening
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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.
As Boy Scouts, the twins learned to survive in the wilderness, or at least subsist on oatmeal for two days as they did once after running out of other food.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026
Those who subsist on the fringes of the Vegas tourism orbit are aware that they are in a funk but are nonetheless powerless to fix it.
From Slate • Nov. 18, 2025
Many of them eat only one meal a day and subsist on high energy biscuits given by the charity, she said.
From BBC • May 23, 2025
With starting quarterbacks getting almost all the reps during practice each week, backups have to subsist mostly on scout team reps and film study.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 27, 2024
Heraclitus saith that “War is the father of all things,” for we could not subsist without strife within us and unease.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
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.
