to come alive
63
3.7
- phrasal verb
- /kʌm əˈlaɪv/
- However, there is no substitute for performance to make the music come alive for student musicians.
- make come alive
- a character comes alive
- a story comes alive
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Watch on YouTubeI would say, for the lack of better words, I come alive when I perform.
- I would say, for the lack of better words, I come alive when I perform.
- The more the story starts to come alive in surprising ways.
- And the details are what make us come alive.
- It was like I, my whole body came alive.
- And the second you take that, you pop that balloon, people start coming alive.
- But then Elementa Doll comes alive.
- And so she's now seeing the fruits of the things that she created, you know, come alive in a sense.
Examples
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The city really comes alive at night, with vibrant lights and bustling crowds.
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And there is no better role model than Davis Sobel, a master storyteller who not only makes science come alive, but makes it fun.
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I would say, for the lack of better words, I come alive when I perform.
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Little guy comes alive in front of the camera.
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Because I came alive when I met you.
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Those works come alive through the presence of a viewer.
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When I'm with my kids, I come alive like I am my best self.
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Our mutual curiosity makes the space between us come alive with questions.
Academic text (2004) -
I'm noticing something come alive in me because I am pursuing something that I'm curious about.
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Yet there's a specialness here, and I feel myself coming alive in subtle ways.
Fiction book (1999)
Synonyms
80
3.8
To get active and more real after a time with little activity
32
3.7
Begin to seem full of life, like a place with people around
31
3.1
Become more lively and cheerful after feeling tired or sad
19
3.9
To make or become more active and interesting
6
4.0
Start working or moving quickly after being quiet
1
4.7
Full of lively energy because people feel excited
Antonyms
How Lively
43
3.9
43
3.1
63
3.7
- Informal
19
3.9
- Informal
31
3.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase 'come alive' is directly compositional: 'come' in the sense 'become' combined with 'alive' (lively) yields 'become lively or full of activity'. This change-of-state pattern (come + adjective) is common in English and across languages, so an average B1 learner who knows the constituents can readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Come alive creates a simple picture: something quiet or still seems to come alive, like a painting that looks real in good light or a street that fills with people. So we say come alive to mean 'become lively' or 'full of energy'.