live off

verb

lived off; living off; lives off

transitive verb

: to use (something or someone) as the main source of what one needs to survive (such as money or food)

… the indigenous … people, who have inhabited the rain forest of Irian Jaya, living off the land, for thousands of years.

—Eyal Press

… the fish goes into a kind of hibernation, living off its reserves of fat …

—Mark Carwardine

… she is one of the few Iditarod competitors who have turned professional, living off race winnings.

—National Wildlife

… a growing subculture of people who have reduced their spending habits and live off consumer waste.

—Erika Hayasaki

Max lives off his father …

—Harold Beaver

Examples of live off in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Remains of the popular stone mason, artist and Hobbit house builder David Riemens who lived off the grid were found in 2018, but the case is still unsolved. —Andy Humbles, The Tennessean, 2 July 2025

Students living at home could pay about $43,000 for tuition and other fees while in-state engineering and architecture students living off campus might pay as much as $58,000. —Jenna Prestininzi, Freep.com, 2 July 2025

Since being charged in O’Keefe’s death in 2022, Read has lost both of her jobs, her health insurance, her car and her life savings — and has been living off of what remains of her 401(k), per Vanity Fair. —Lynsey Eidell, People.com, 19 June 2025

The shift in immigrant voters is part of a broader shift in American voters who live off of their wages as opposed to their stock portfolios. —Martha McHardy, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1609, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for live off

• cerenkov
• ashraf
• checkoff
• cutoff
• falloff
• handoff
• kickoff
• layoff
• liftoff
• markoff
• markov
• payoff