live
verb · adjective · adverb
Simple meaning
To be alive.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
lyvadjective: lyvverb: liv
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈlaɪv
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Be an inhabitant of or reside in
“People lived in Africa millions of years ago.”
intransitive
To be alive; to have life.
intransitive
To have permanent residence somewhere, to inhabit, to reside.
intransitiveinformalof an object
To have its proper place; to normally be stored.
intransitive
To survive; to persevere; to continue.
intransitive
To pass life in a specified manner.
adjective
Actually being performed at the time of hearing or viewing
Being in existence; actual.
Having active properties; being energized.
Operational; in actual use rather than in testing etc.
of a performance or speech
In person.
Of an environment where sound is recorded: having noticeable reverberation.
adverb
Of an event, as it happens; in real time; direct.
Of making a performance or speech, in person.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To be alive; to have life.
Used this way, live is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use live
- “People lived in Africa millions of years ago.”verb
- “We had to live frugally after the war.”verb
- “You must accept yourself and others if you really want to live.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Large and complicated reddish-brown glandular organ located in the upper right portion of the abdominal cavity.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Steam coming from a boiler at full pressure.
Share living quarters.
Meet the requirements or expectations of.
An alert and energetic person.
Tolerate or accommodate oneself to.
Continue to live and avoid dying.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
The financial means whereby one lives.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: actually being performed at the time of hearing
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.