Synonyms of breathing

breathing 1 of 2

adjective

as in alive

having or showing life

realized that he didn't need a comic-book superhero, since he had a real, breathing hero in his father

Synonyms & Similar Words

• alive
• live
• living
• animate
• active
• animated
• dynamic
• surviving
• quick
• lively
• thriving
• existing
• vibrant
• vigorous
• current
• going
• existent
• prevailing
• vivacious
• vital
• extant
• resurrected

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• cold
• dead
• dying
• inanimate
• deceased
• breathless
• lifeless
• expired
• asleep
• nonliving
• departed
• fading
• defunct
• moribund
• resting
• stillborn
• gone
• ghostly
• absent
• nonexistent
• ghostlike
• vanished
• terminated
• wiped out
• finished
• extinct
• fallen
• lost
• lapsed
• barren
• desert
• reposing
• zombielike
• ghosty
• perished

breathing

2 of 2

verb

present participle of breathe

1

as in snoring

to inhale and exhale air

sometimes it gets so hot in here that it's hard to even breathe

Synonyms & Similar Words

• snoring
• respiring
• gasping
• panting
• wheezing
• inspiring
• huffing
• puffing
• blowing (out)
• inbreathing
• sniffing
• drawing
• snorting
• yawning
• snuffing
• snuffling
• expiring
• whiffing
• suspiring

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• choking
• suffocating
• asphyxiating
• smothering
• gagging
• stifling
• strangling
• throttling
• garroting

2

as in living

to have life

as long as I breathe, you will have a place to stay

Synonyms & Similar Words

• living
• being
• existing
• ruling
• subsisting
• surviving
• kicking
• continuing
• keeping (on)
• enduring
• lasting
• leading
• abiding
• flourishing
• persisting
• running on
• moving
• holding on
• holding up
• thriving
• prospering

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• dying
• departing
• expiring
• succumbing
• perishing
• vanishing
• disappearing
• passing away
• evaporating
• stopping
• ending
• ceasing
• dying (down)
• quitting
• discontinuing
• subsiding
• ebbing
• waning
• moderating
• abating
• desisting
• letting up

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of breathing

Verb

Officers arrived and found a 42-year-old man who was unconscious and not breathing. — Jose Fabian, CBS News, 24 Aug. 2026

Straight from Sean Payton and every other living, breathing human being who’s attended Broncos training camp, Bryant has been THE star. — Jess Bryant, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2026

Surrounded by the destruction, the baby squirrel still kept breathing. — Eleanor Nash, Kansas City Star, 20 Aug. 2026

Mryglod was standing outside, crying and breathing rapidly, with blood on her hands, the report states. — Christina Coulter, PEOPLE, 20 Aug. 2026

He was endlessly condemned for anything those who hated him could come up with, including the common-sense approach of staying put during a deadly plague killing millions, and not breathing and coughing in other people’s faces. — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 15 Aug. 2026

These include monthly summaries involving blood pressure trends, sleep breathing quality and insulin resistance trends. — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 15 Aug. 2026

The party establishment is breathing a sign of relief that democratic socialist Francesca Hong, who led the pre-election polls by double-digits, will not be topping their ticket. — Karen Tumulty, Washington Post, 12 Aug. 2026

Lung inflammation makes breathing tougher and coughing and wheezing more frequent. — Helen Carefoot, Flow Space, 11 Aug. 2026