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.
Shrum said he doubts that message will resonate with enough voters to sway the race to Valadao “in an environment where the things people are worried about are the cost of living, the war.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 11, 2026
The rest of us are just living in it.
From Slate • Jun. 11, 2026
“The open design creates an effortless flow for both daily living and entertaining,” the listing noted.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 11, 2026
“We are living in a world we are not built to understand,” he told me.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 11, 2026
Now I was twenty-seven, Betsie in her mid-–thirties, and I knew that this was the way it was going to be: Betsie and I the unmarried daughters living at home in the Beje.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
