MEANING
1. To remain alive after another person has died, or live longer than they do.
2. To continue existing beyond a period, purpose, influence, or condition that once defined something.
Use it for
describing someone surviving a loved one; showing a parent living after a child’s death; comparing how long two people live; portraying the burden of surviving one’s contemporariesDistinguishes surviving a person from continuing beyond an object’s expected life or a thing’s usefulness. Writing functions: Death / Mortality.
Words that belong together
- outlive a spouse
- outlive one’s children
- outlive one’s contemporaries
On the page
She outlived every friend who had known her as a child.
He feared that he would outlive the daughter who had always cared for him.
The empty station had outlived the railway that gave it a purpose.
Her reputation outlived the scandal, though the letters were never forgotten.
Word forms
- Base
- outlive
- Past tense
- outlived
- Past participle
- outlived
- Present participle
- outliving
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- outlive
- Present continuous
- am/is/are outliving
- Present perfect
- have/has outlived
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been outliving
- Past
- outlived
- Past continuous
- was/were outliving
- Past perfect
- had outlived
- Past perfect continuous
- had been outliving
- Future
- will outlive
- Future continuous
- will be outliving
- Future perfect
- will have outlived
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been outliving
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Transitive verb: outlive someone or something. Forms: outlives; outlived; outlived; outliving. Do not add than after the verb. Register: neutral. Commonness: common (dictionary-informed qualitative editorial estimate; not a measured frequency).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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