subsist
Americanverb (used without object)
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subsists,
present (3rd person singular)
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subsisted,
past participle, past
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subsisting
present participle
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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)
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subsists,
present (3rd person singular)
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subsisted,
past participle, past
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subsisting
present participle
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
Derived Forms
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subsisternoun
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presubsistverb (used without object)
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supersubsistverb (used without object)
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self-subsistingadjective
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subsistentadjective
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subsistinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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subsistsimple
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subsistssimple
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have subsistedperfect
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has subsistedperfect
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am subsistingprogressive
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are subsistingprogressive
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is subsistingprogressive
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have been subsistingperfect progressive
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has been subsistingperfect progressive
Past
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subsistedsimple
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had subsistedperfect
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was subsistingprogressive
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were subsistingprogressive
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had been subsistingperfect progressive
Future
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.
See Examples For:
A woman who limits her exercise to Pilates will still have to subsist on very little food to get the delicate, bone-thin look these men conjure with the “Pilates girl” image.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
When you spent all your savings to move to London, how did you subsist as a young girl with no English in a foreign land?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 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
With starters dominating the live reps during practice, scout team players subsist on mental reps to stay ready for their opportunities.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 6, 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
The homegrown awards show subsists entirely on ticket sales, which range from $20 to $40, depending on the time of purchase — and the occasional donation — and has never turned a profit, he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2025
This could affect the bird's ability to survive in tidal marshes, where it subsists on saltwater and salty crustaceans, something freshwater birds are ill-adapted to.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 24, 2024
The dark brown-and-tan-colored snake, named Tachymenoides harrisonfordi, reaches up to 16 inches long, subsists on lizards and frogs, and is considered harmless to human beings.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 16, 2023
Thus she subsists on the blood of animals, a solution that becomes increasingly unworkable as her hunger increases.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 13, 2023
His cheeks are so hollowed and pitted, he looks like he subsists entirely on turnips.
From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz
Cramped inside vessels overladen with precious cargo, crewmembers subsisted on a miserable diet of hardtack, an unleavened bread, and salted meat and fish that routinely spoiled and left many gravely ill.
From Barron's ● Apr. 28, 2026
Through much of U.S. history, the federal government subsisted on the proceeds generated by tariffs and on the tax on whiskey.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026
Father and daughter subsisted on a few real estate investments that allowed him “to pay the bills.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 2025
Instead, his family largely subsisted on bread, he said.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2024
He subsisted exclusively on rice and eagles’ blood, in a tiny cottage with an underground gymnasium and shooting range, on the stormy coast of Tibet.
From "Nine Stories" by J. D. Salinger
Maekar recoils at the thought of a child of royal birth subsisting on salted beef.
From Salon ● Feb. 23, 2026
Less than two years ago, Brittney Griner was starting her nine-year sentence in a penal colony in Russia, sewing uniforms for the Russian military and subsisting on spoiled food.
From New York Times ● May 3, 2024
It turns out that the players being labeled as amateurs and treated like normal students who are subsisting on ramen noodles were not the reason folks tuned in on Saturdays.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2023
After days of subsisting on tea, bread and onions, Abu Speitan said he was feeling dehydrated and exhausted.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 24, 2023
Here in the city, tuition, books, lectures, and rent had him subsisting on crusts for days on end.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
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.
