outlive
verb
out·live
ˌau̇t-ˈliv 
outlived; outliving; outlives
1
: to live beyond or longer than
outlived most of his friends
outlive its usefulness
2
: to survive the effects of
Universities … outlive many political and social changes.—
J. B. Conant
J. B. ConantExamples of outlive in a Sentence
No mother wants to outlive her children.
He outlived his wife by 10 years.
Recent Examples on the Web
And the fictional one will outlive me.
—Andrew Marantz, New Yorker, 5 Apr. 2026
Taken to an extreme, an ever-evolving idea of retirement could outlive drastic institutional change, perhaps enduring longer than the institutions of American democracy or beyond climate disaster.
—Trevor Jackson, The New York Review of Books, 4 Apr. 2026
Vierstra has not developed ALS and is outliving many of his family members.
—Jon Lapook, CBS News, 4 Apr. 2026
That work has outlived much of the Black Lives Matter movement.
—David Weigel, semafor.com, 1 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for outlive
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Andrew Marantz, New Yorker, 5 Apr. 2026
Taken to an extreme, an ever-evolving idea of retirement could outlive drastic institutional change, perhaps enduring longer than the institutions of American democracy or beyond climate disaster.
—Trevor Jackson, The New York Review of Books, 4 Apr. 2026
Vierstra has not developed ALS and is outliving many of his family members.
—Jon Lapook, CBS News, 4 Apr. 2026
That work has outlived much of the Black Lives Matter movement.
—David Weigel, semafor.com, 1 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for outlive
Cite this Entry
“Outlive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/outlive. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
outlive
verb
out·live
(ˈ)au̇t-ˈliv
: to live longer than : outlast
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