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

• outlast
• outwear

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

This reality is especially pronounced for women, who often outlive their husbands by years or even decades. —Joseph Coughlin, Forbes.com, 2 June 2025

These two veterans of a long, bloody war have mostly outlived their usefulness to their respective causes. —Noel Murray, New York Times, 14 May 2025

When starting with similar assets and investment strategies, a woman’s chances of outliving her retirement savings are more than double that of a man — 12.6% versus 5%. —Bruce Helmer, Twin Cities, 10 May 2025

Hackman appeared to have outlived Arakawa at home by about a week, possibly unaware of his wife’s death. —Morgan Lee, Chicago Tribune, 28 Apr. 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