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.
Even more striking, in more than 500 wild primates, across 27 species both living and fossil, we found no trace of a common modern dental disease: deep, V-shaped gumline notches called abfraction lesions.
From Science Daily • Jun. 8, 2026
The New World Screwworm is a fly whose larvae feed on living tissue, and can infect cattle, wildlife, pets and, rarely, people.
From Barron's • Jun. 8, 2026
Zealand Chief Medical Officer David Kendall said the data reported by Boehringer reinforce survodutide’s potential as a differentiated therapy for people living with overweight or obesity and associated metabolic dysfunction.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 8, 2026
I agree that if you are genuinely friends with someone and you are living in a time of political change, it might come up from time to time.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 8, 2026
This neighborhood is too far into the city; I pictured Charles living in the country.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
