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

Still, only one person became a celluloid legend from Universal’s gambit — and that person wasn’t Carlos Villarias, who outlived Lugosi by two decades yet never achieved anything like the same renown. — Dennis Harvey, Variety, 31 July 2026

Indeed, at more than 400 million years old, sharks have outlived five mass extinctions and could teach us a thing or two about surviving in a changing climate. — Rosanna Xia, Los Angeles Times, 30 July 2026

Leave it to Hamilton to design a lifesaving service that began as a floating tax enforcement agency—and outlived him by more than two centuries. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 July 2026

While his beloved character didn’t outlive the zombie apocalypse, his romance with Pak bloomed. — Adrianne Reece, InStyle, 28 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing outlive

• outlive one's usefulness

Rhymes for outlive

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

Kids Definition

outlive

verb

out·​live (ˈ)au̇t-ˈliv 

: to live longer than : outlast