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living

living

6.7
Acts as a strong word before some nouns to show extreme feeling
  • adjective
  • /ˈlɪvɪŋ/
  • Informal
translation icon : verdadero
  • I mean, your life is a living hell for those six months.

I mean, your life is a living hell for those six months.

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Examples

  • His messy breakup turned his life into a living hell that he couldn't escape from.

  • Now I'm going to curl the living hell out of my lashes using my Shiseido eyelash curler.

  • Your YouTube channel scared the living out of me.

  • Record the living hell out of that and re watch those game tapes.

  • They're my all the fault of that happening to one of my children is a living nightmare.

  • The unexpected storm caused a living nightmare for the hikers stuck on the mountain.

  • She felt like she was fighting the living daylights out of her anxiety every day.

Idioms

To frighten or hurt someone very much

To frighten someone very much

2 6.5

Traveling a lot and staying in temporary places, rarely unpacking

During the time people alive now can remember

To live without power, running water, or sewer services

the living end
  • Archaic
1 8.2

Something people think is the best and most exciting

To hit someone very hard or to shock someone very much

9.9

Enjoying a comfortable and rich life after hard times

To be in a very bad situation for a long time

Compounds

617 1.0

A room in a house where people relax and sit together, for example to watch TV

63 1.0

A plant, animal, or small creature that grows and needs food and water

How much money, comfort, and services people in a country have

The money needed to pay for basic things like food and housing

28 3.5

A person or thing whose life shows something can be true

Rooms or small buildings where people live inside a larger place

18 3.4

Money paid to a worker that is enough for their family to pay for basic needs

The amount of money, goods, and services people have for daily life

living will
  • Specialized
14 5.7

An official paper that says what medical care you want if you cannot make decisions

A state of being alive and able to do everyday things

living dead
  • Literature
5 8.6

A dead body that comes back to life like a zombie

A time that people alive now can remember

How people live together in a home and who shares it

living space
  • Archaic
4 9.3

Land a country wants to take for its people to live and grow

3 3.7

Living in a morally careful way and avoiding drinking, smoking, and drugs

living trust
  • Specialized
3 6.0

A legal plan that lets you keep control of your money and property while alive and avoid court after death

living death
  • Informal
3 9.3

A life that feels like being dead because of great suffering

A simple life in the countryside near nature and fresh air

1 2.1

A group of matching furniture for a living room like a sofa and chairs

A life where people share a home, chores, and costs

A way of life that uses less energy and resources to protect the environment

1 3.2

Life in a city with a fast pace, many people, and many shops and services

Places like rooms or buildings where people live

cost-of-living index
  • Specialized
1 3.5

A number showing how much money a typical household needs for basic goods and services

1 4.1

Extra pay for employees to help with higher living costs

Country Living
  • Literature
1 4.4

A monthly magazine about country homes, gardening, cooking, and life in the countryside

3.7

A payment that automatically increases when prices rise to help people afford things

A way of behaving in which a person enjoys many pleasures and expensive things

free-living
  • Specialized
6.4

A living thing that lives on its own and not on another animal or plant

A set of matching furniture for a living room, like a sofa and chairs

living stone
  • South African
9.3

A small plant with thick leaves that looks like a stone and has yellow or white flowers

6.2

Material inside a living cell, including the jelly-like cytoplasm and the nucleus

living rock
  • South African
9.9

A small plant with thick leaves that look like a stone

living rock
  • Specialized
9.5

A small spineless cactus with a bumpy surface and bright pink flowers

A set of matching furniture for a room where people sit and relax, like a sofa and chairs

A set of matching furniture for a living room with a sofa and chairs

living granite
  • South African
9.9

A small plant that grows in clumps with thick grey-green leaves that look like stones

An animal that lives in trees most of the time

Surface Forms

living positive

Morphology

living = live (opaque) = live + ing

Used as an intensifier in set phrases (e.g., 'living hell') where the meaning ('extreme') cannot be derived from 'live' + '-ing'.

Etymology

Living in phrases like 'the living hell' or 'the living daylights' is used to make the idea stronger or more shocking; think of it as making the danger feel 'alive' and very real.