Synonyms of live

live 1 of 2

verb

ˈliv 

1

as in to reside

to have a home

he lives next door to the hospital

Synonyms & Similar Words

• reside
• dwell
• stay
• abide
• inhabit
• occupy
• people
• haunt
• visit
• hang (at)
• settle
• lodge
• rent
• cohabit
• tenant
• frequent
• populate
• lease
• sublet

2

as in to be

to have life

Socrates was a philosopher who lived in ancient Greece

Synonyms & Similar Words

• be
• exist
• breathe
• rule
• subsist
• survive
• continue
• flourish
• persist
• endure
• last
• keep (on)
• abide
• kick
• run on
• hold on
• lead
• thrive
• move
• prosper
• hold up

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• die
• perish
• depart
• expire
• disappear
• pass away
• succumb
• stop
• vanish
• end
• evaporate
• cease
• die (down)
• quit
• discontinue
• moderate
• abate
• subside
• desist
• let up
• ebb
• wane

live

2 of 2

adjective

ˈlīv 

1

as in operating

being in effective operation

didn't realize that the microphone was live and proceeded to make some rather indiscreet comments

Synonyms & Similar Words

• operating
• operational
• operative
• going
• functioning
• running
• on
• working
• active
• living
• in force
• alive
• operable
• functional
• in commission
• on line
• viable
• in gear
• effective
• producing
• performing
• useful
• employable
• serving
• flourishing
• usable
• effectual
• workable
• productive
• busy
• thriving
• dynamic
• humming
• yielding
• bustling
• astir
• roaring

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• dead
• broken
• inactive
• inoperative
• nonfunctioning
• nonfunctional
• useless
• nonoperative
• ineffective
• nonactivated
• ineffectual
• nonoperational
• arrested
• nonoperating
• decommissioned
• fallow
• idle
• unusable
• kaput
• deactivated
• unworkable
• lifeless
• dormant
• quiescent
• inert
• sleepy
• inoperable
• asleep
• unproductive
• latent
• nonproductive
• vegetating
• stagnating

2

as in breathing

having or showing life

there is a tank of live lobsters sitting at the front of the restaurant

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of live

Verb

There, musicians Elsie, Nyjah Music & Zyah Rhythm, Travis Garland, dancer Sando, and comedian Akira lived to see another day on the talent competition. — Raechal Shewfelt, Entertainment Weekly, 5 Aug. 2026

Foregrounding the audience’s lived reality before its fictional love story can even begin, that meta wink feels unmistakably like Gluck’s work. — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 5 Aug. 2026

Adjective

There will be almost a dozen live acts, including Guinean bongo playing, a New Orleans-style brass band, the West African Duniya Drum and Dance Company, Egyptian belly dancers and Non-Stop Bhangra (Punjabi dance music). — Randy McMullen, Mercury News, 6 Aug. 2026

Many scientists believe the evidence suggests that the virus emerged naturally in bats, circulated to other species and spilled over to humans, spreading at a live animal market in Wuhan where the first human cases appeared in late 2019. — Joe Walsh, CBS News, 6 Aug. 2026

Phrases Containing live

• live up to
• live wire
• live with