Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Currently alive: Refers to organisms that are not dead; having life.
   • Still in existence or active use: Describes things, like languages or traditions, that are currently used or practiced, not extinct or obsolete.
   • True to life; very realistic: Used to describe something that is a very accurate or lifelike representation.
   • Pertaining to the lives of living people: Relating to the experience or memory of people who are currently alive.

2. Noun:

   • The state or condition of being alive: The fact of having life.
   • People who are currently alive: Used collectively to refer to those who are not dead.
   • A means of maintaining life; livelihood: The financial resources or manner that supports one's existence.
   • A manner or way of life: The particular style or circumstances in which a person or group lives.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:

  • All living creatures need water. (All creatures that are currently alive need water.)
  • Latin is not a living language. (Latin is not a language that is actively spoken now.)
  • She is the living image of her mother. (She looks exactly like her mother, as if she were a living copy.)
  • That event is within living memory. (That event is remembered by people who are still alive.)

• Noun:

  • The mystery of living fascinates philosophers. (The mystery of the state of being alive fascinates philosophers.)
  • We must respect both the living and the dead. (We must respect people who are alive and those who have died.)
  • He earns his living as a teacher. (He supports himself financially by working as a teacher.)
  • They enjoy a simple living in the countryside. (They enjoy a simple way of life in the countryside.)

Advanced Usage

• "The living daylights": Used for emphasis, especially with verbs like "scare" or "beat," to mean extremely or utterly.

  • The loud noise scared the living daylights out of me. (The loud noise frightened me extremely.)

• "A living fossil": An organism that has survived from an earlier era with little change, while similar species are extinct.

  • The coelacanth is often called a living fossil. (The coelacanth is a species alive today that resembles ancient species.)

• "Living death": A state of existence that is as miserable as being dead.

  • For the prisoners, each day was a living death. (For the prisoners, each day was a miserable existence.)

Variants and Related Words

• Livelihood (n): A means of securing the necessities of life; synonymous with "living" as a noun meaning income or support.

  • Farming is their primary livelihood. (Farming is their main way of earning money to live.)

• Living room (n): A room in a house for general everyday use, such as relaxing or entertaining guests.

  • We gathered in the living room to watch a movie. (We gathered in the main social room to watch a movie.)

Synonyms

• Alive (adj): Having life; living. (e.g., )
• Existent (adj): Having reality or existence. (e.g., )
• Livelihood (n): See "Variants and Related Words."
• Subsistence (n): The action or fact of maintaining or supporting oneself, especially at a minimal level. (e.g., )

Related Phrases

• Standard of living: The degree of wealth and material comfort available to a person or community.

  • The country has a high standard of living. (The country has a high level of material comfort and wealth.)

• Cost of living: The level of prices relating to a range of everyday items.

  • The cost of living in the city is very high. (The price of basic necessities in the city is very high.)

• Make a living: To earn enough money to support oneself.

  • It's hard to make a living as an artist. (It's difficult to earn enough money to live by being an artist.)

Related Idioms

• In the land of the living: Awake and active; alive. Often used humorously.

  • Good morning! Are you in the land of the living yet? (Good morning! Are you awake and active yet?)

• Living on borrowed time: Surviving longer than expected, especially after a crisis.

  • After the diagnosis, he felt he was living on borrowed time. (After the diagnosis, he felt he was surviving past the expected time.)

Adjective

1. (used of minerals or stone) in its natural state and place; not mined or quarried;
   • carved into the living stone
2. still in active use
   • a living language
3. still in existence
   • the Wollemi pine found in Australia is a surviving specimen of a conifer thought to have been long extinct and therefore known as a living fossil
   • the only surviving frontier blockhouse in Pennsylvania
4. (informal) absolute
   • she is a living doll
   • scared the living daylights out of them
   • beat the living hell out of him
5. true to life; lifelike
   • the living image of her mother
6. pertaining to living persons
   • within living memory

Noun

1. the financial means whereby one lives
   • each child was expected to pay for their keep
   • he applied to the state for support
   • he could no longer earn his own livelihood
2. the condition of living or the state of being alive
   • while there's life there's hope
   • life depends on many chemical and physical processes
3. people who are still living
   • save your pity for the living
4. the experience of being alive; the course of human events and activities
   • he could no longer cope with the complexities of life