living
Usage
What are other ways to say living?
Living and livelihood (a somewhat more formal word), both refer to what one earns to keep (oneself) alive, but are seldom interchangeable within the same phrase: to earn one's living; to threaten one's livelihood. “To make a living” suggests making just enough to keep alive, and is particularly frequent in the negative: You cannot make a living out of that. “To make a livelihood out of something” suggests rather making a business of it: to make a livelihood out of knitting hats. Maintenance refers usually to what is spent for the living of another: to provide for the maintenance of someone. Maintenance occasionally refers to the allowance itself provided for livelihood: They are entitled to a maintenance from this estate.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The ability to create and maintain reactive intermediate molecules in water also brings scientists closer to replicating the chemistry that naturally occurs inside living cells, which are mostly composed of water.
From Science Daily • Apr. 11, 2026
Pensioners and families living on fixed incomes are hit the hardest, forced to stretch rations, skip meals or rely on remittances from relatives abroad — if they are lucky enough to have them.
From Salon • Apr. 11, 2026
Still, even with that in account, the analyst said "I don't think this moment is living up to the hype" of most Apollo missions, and added he hopes NASA's communications strategies continue to improve.
From Barron's • Apr. 11, 2026
The result is as close to heaven as urban living can get, at least as conceived by moviegoers, then and now.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026
Writing is a strange way to make a living, and I had sold many books by the time I was forty but was not making enough money to live on.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
