Skip to main content
to exist

to exist

345 1.9
To manage to live with very little money or food
  • verb
  • /ɪɡˈzɪst/
translation icon : subsistir
  • The homeless man struggled to exist on the streets without basic necessities.

Not just to exist, but to live.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • Even in difficult times, he found ways to exist happily with limited resources.

  • Despite the challenges in her life, she managed to exist with hope and determination.

  • You can change how you exist in the world, right?

  • You cannot just exist in this life.

  • Not just to exist, but to live.

  • You know, you exist here to find yourself in a way.

  • So I can, I can exist in solitude and be content.

  • My terms are a man's right to exist for his own sake.

  • I know what it is to exist... between the world's certainties.

  • Here's an end to living in corners, existing day to day on lies.

Synonyms

to live
vsto exist
1.0

To continue to be alive

focuses on managing life under difficult conditions and scarce resources
to survive
vsto exist
425 2.7

Manage to live on very little money

focuses more on coping under hardship with very limited means
to subsist
vsto exist
11 7.2

Manage to live with very little food or money

stresses getting by under difficult conditions rather than mere maintenance

Antonyms

to perish
  • Formal
121 6.0

To die suddenly or violently, often in large numbers

How Well

to prosper
88 3.7
to thrive
241 3.2
to survive
2.7
to exist
345 1.9
to scrape by
10 5.1
to starve
328 1.7

Surface Forms

exist infinitive
existed past
existed past participle
existing present participle
exists third person singular

Etymology

The word exist comes from the Latin parts ex- 'out' and sistere 'to stand'. A helpful way to remember the second meaning is to think of 'standing' through hard times, so to exist here means to 'get by' or manage to live.