outlive

verb

out·​live ˌau̇t-ˈliv 

outlived; outliving; outlives

transitive verb

1

: to live beyond or longer than

outlived most of his friends

outlive its usefulness

2

: to survive the effects of

Universities … outlive many political and social changes.

—J. B. Conant

Synonyms of outlive

• survive
• outlast

Examples of outlive in a Sentence

No mother wants to outlive her children.

He outlived his wife by 10 years.

Recent Examples on the Web

Anne herself would outlive her husband by seven years, dying at 67. —Nathan Smith, Time, 26 Nov. 2025

Born on November 22, 1973, Hannah Shirley is now twice as old as most members of her species, having well outlived the typical 25–30 year lifespan of pygmy hippos in the wild. —Maria Azzurra Volpe, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2025

This means that the box can be easily transferred between different base chassis, potentially outliving the truck (or multiple trucks). —New Atlas, 14 Nov. 2025

The penny outlived its sibling, the half-penny, by 168 years. —Vanessa Yurkevich, CNN Money, 12 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing outlive

• outlive one's usefulness

Rhymes for outlive

• forgive
• ogive
• relive
• corroborative
• determinative
• germinative
• transformative
• give
• sieve
• resistive

Kids Definition

outlive

verb

out·​live (ˈ)au̇t-ˈliv 

: to live longer than : outlast