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

Adjective

Police were called to an Overland Park apartment for a non-breathing child, and shortly after law enforcement arrived, medical personnel pronounced the girl dead, according to court documents. — Nathan Pilling, Kansas City Star, 23 Oct. 2026

Verb

About a minute later, Guardado began breathing heavily, followed by some sputtering and twitching. — Kim Chandler, Arkansas Online, 6 Nov. 2026

About a minute into the injection, Guardado began breathing heavily, followed by some sputtering and twitching that lasted about another minute. — David Fischer, The Orlando Sentinel, 5 Nov. 2026

Campbell was breathing and alert when he was taken to the hospital. — Chuck Schilken, Los Angeles Times, 4 Nov. 2026

Patrick Gilles and Dorothée Boissier, another husband-and-wife team, are dab hands at breathing characterful sleekness into historic spaces. — Matt Ortile, Vogue, 30 Oct. 2026

During REM sleep, one of the periods of rest when dreams are most likely, the brainstem paralyzes the body’s muscles, except, of course, those that move our eyes and keep us breathing. — Rj MacKenzie, Popular Science, 29 Oct. 2026

Advertisement Calm the scary feeling When fright takes hold, breathing techniques like 4-7-8 breathing or box breathing can soothe your nervous system. — Juli Fraga, Time, 29 Oct. 2026

The mother of a toddler who was found breathing in a hospital morgue hours after being pronounced dead is speaking out about the shocking incident. — ABC News, 22 Oct. 2026

Without to-do lists or chores, breathing in the fresh ocean air, my son and I were able to connect and share the pleasure of great food. — Amanda Eyre Ward, Bon Appetit Magazine, 22 Oct. 2026