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

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

Dozier feared waking up to find her daughter unconscious or not breathing — a mother’s worst nightmare. — Becca Savransky, Idaho Statesman, 11 Aug. 2026

Of course, with Aegon still breathing, the High Septon is less inclined than ever to anoint a woman in defiance of the deeply patriarchal Faith of the Seven. — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 10 Aug. 2026

Children’s Hospital Colorado suggests kids trace the sides of a square with a finger while breathing. — Samantha Agate, Sacbee.com, 10 Aug. 2026

The technology Kreios Space has been developing is called air-breathing electric propulsion (ABEP). — Julian Dossett, Space.com, 9 Aug. 2026

Residents living in the nearby communities of Val Verde and Castaic have phoned in thousands of complaints about stench and lived with nausea, dizziness and trouble breathing. — Tony Briscoe, Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2026

Harlem resident June Cooley said doctors were reluctant to even test her mother for the disease when she was rushed to Harlem Hospital with difficulty breathing last year. — Leonard Greene, New York Daily News, 6 Aug. 2026