life expectancy

noun

: the average lifespan of an individual

Examples of life expectancy in a Sentence

improvements in diet that have resulted in greater life expectancy for many people

calculating the life expectancies of different social groups

Recent Examples on the Web

Low fertility rates, coupled with longer life expectancy due to lower mortality rates, also feed into the phenomenon of population aging, where the proportion of older people in a population increases relative to the working-age population. —Encyclopedia Britannica, 6 Apr. 2026

The study, based on a survey of 4,375 adults, found that inflation, longer life expectancies, and growing anxiety about the future of Social Security are all pushing the ideal retirement figure higher. —Sydney Lake, Fortune, 3 Apr. 2026

Yet as the exhibition notes, life expectancies are now rising higher than any other time in history. —Leah Dolan, CNN Money, 2 Apr. 2026

Most Hunter syndrome kids have the severe form of the disease, which has a life expectancy of between 10 and 20 years. —Elizabeth Chuck, NBC news, 1 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1848, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

life expectancy

noun

: the number of years that an individual or group of a certain age can expect to live on the average based on experience in the past for individuals or groups of the same kind

Medical Definition

life expectancy

noun

: an expected number of years of life based on statistical probability

Legal Definition

life expectancy

noun

: the average life span of an individual