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

But about five hours later, police were notified that the child was breathing, and he was flown to another hospital. — ABC News, 30 July 2026

Both Stratton and Dwyer said neither child ever started breathing. — Andi Babineau, CNN Money, 30 July 2026

If there is swelling spreading well beyond the bite, a rash breaking out elsewhere on your body, or any trouble breathing or swallowing, treat that as an emergency and get medical help right away. — Maggie O'Neill, Verywell Health, 29 July 2026

That connotes living and breathing Black resistance every day, even when confronted with acts of racial violence. — Literary Hub, 27 July 2026

Viewership has dropped, but big battles with their fearsome fire-breathing dragons could easily bring viewers back, especially since this really has been a step in the right direction compared to Season 2. — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 26 July 2026

Firefighting teams were being reinforced with the addition of hundreds of soldiers and breathing masks to filter out potentially noxious smoke particles were being rushed to those exposed, Lecornu said. — Mark Carlson, Fortune, 25 July 2026

Paramount+ delivered the main full trailer for season 4 on June 15, 2026, and it’s packed with dinosaurs, cowboys, horses, space storms, dreams, nightmares, fire-breathing dragons, haunted spaceships, and hallucinatory pleasure planets. — Jeff Spry, Space.com, 23 July 2026

Overseen by executive director Richard Brent, the Big House is living, breathing rock & roll history. — Joseph Hudak, Rolling Stone, 22 July 2026