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

An ‘operating system’ designed to outlive its designer Henry’s meetings with his executives have one unusual feature. —Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 24 Oct. 2025

Worried about outliving your retirement savings? —David McMillin, CNBC, 24 Oct. 2025

But with the advent of new materials and technologies in the latter half of the 20th century, many of these styles outlived their usefulness in the original contexts they were meant to be worn. —Eric Twardzik, Robb Report, 17 Oct. 2025

Women are statistically more likely to outlive their husbands. —Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 16 Oct. 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