alive
/əˈlaɪv/
alive adjective: having life; living; not dead.
Adjective
alive (comparative more alive, superlative most alive)
- Having life; living; not dead.
- As long as the plant is alive, he will continue to water it.
- I am hee that liueth, and was dead : and behold, I am aliue foꝛ euermoꝛe,Amen,and haue the keyes of hell and of death.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Rev 1:18
- Synonyms:
- alive and kicking
- In a state of action; in force or operation; existent.
- to keep the fire alive
- to keep the affections alive
- Synonyms:
- existing
- Busy with activity of many living beings; swarming; thronged; busy.
- Although quite dull during the day, the main street comes alive at night, with many bars and clubs opening.
- First a solitary blackbird started up, and soon the whole forest was alive with birdsong.
- Carrying electrical current; energized.
- DANGER: OVERHEAD CATENARY—WIRE IS ALIVE
- Aware of; sensitive to.
- We are alive to the ongoing potential for terrorist attacks.
- We may be sure that the Church would be alive to the dangers of allowing the plays to be performed outside the sacred edifice.1925, Godfrey W. Mathews, The Chester Mystery Plays […] ., Liverpool: Edward Howell LTD, page 5
- Sprightly; lively; brisk.
- Smouch, requesting Mr. Pickwick in a surly manner ‘to be as alive as he could, for it was a busy time,’ drew up a chair by the door and sat there, until he had finished dressing.1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “(please specify the chapter name)”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC
- Liverpool’s equaliser came within four minutes. James Milner swung the ball over from a corner on the right and Sadio Mané, Liverpool’s most dangerous player, was alive in the six-yard area.2018 May 26, Daniel Taylor, “Liverpool go through after Mohamed Salah stops Manchester City fightback”, in The Guardian (London)
- Synonyms:
- frisky
- Susceptible, sensitive; easy to impress; having keen feelings, as opposed to apathy.
- Though tremblingly alive to Nature's laws, Yet ever firm to Honour's sacred cause1762, William Falconer, The Shipwreck
- This was a reproach to John, and a slur upon the dog; and both were alive to their misfortune.1887, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Pastoral”, in Memories and Portraits, New York: Charles Scribner, page 99
- Out of all living creatures.
- The Whitest Boy Alive
- The Earl of Northumberland 'was the proudest man alive' and 'was in all his deportment a very great man.1702, Edward Hyde Clarendon, The History of the Rebellion
- Synonyms:
- ever, in the world
- Synonym of live.
- Synonyms:
- live
alive meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
alive in Hindi
- having life
- जीवित jīvit, सजीव sajīv, ज़िंदा zindā, जीता jītā, जीवंत jīvant
- in a state of action
- सजीव sajīv, सक्रिय sakriya
- exhibiting the activity and motion of many living beings
- क्रियाशील kriyāśīl
- sprightly, lively, brisk
- सक्रिय sakriya
alive in Tamil
- having life
- உயிருடன் uyiruṭaṉ, உயிரோடு uyirōṭu
- sprightly, lively, brisk
- கலகலப்பான kalakalappāṉa
alive in Marathi
- having life
- जिवंत jivanta, सजीव sajīv
- in a state of action
- सक्रिय sakriy
- exhibiting the activity and motion of many living beings
- क्रियाशिल kriyāśil
- sprightly, lively, brisk
- सक्रिय sakriy
alive in Urdu
- having life
- زندہ zindā, جیتا jītā
More languagesFewer languages
- alive in Bengali
- জীবন্ত jibonto, জিন্দা jinda
- alive in Malayalam
- ജീവനുള്ള jīvanuḷḷa, സജീവം sajīvaṁ
- alive in Kannada
- ಉಸಿರುಳ್ಳ, ಜೀವಂತ, ಬದುಕಿರುವ, ಪ್ರಾಣವಿರುವ
- alive in Punjabi
- جیوندا jeondā, ਸੁਰਜੀਤ surjīt
- alive in Gujarati
- હયાત hayāt
- alive in Odia
- ଜୀବିତ
- alive in Sanskrit
- जीव jīva, जीवित jīvitá, आयु āyu
- alive in Assamese
- জীয়া zia, বচা bosa
- alive in Nepali
- जिउँदो jiũdo, जीवित jīvit
- alive in Pashto
- ژوندى žwanday
- alive in Tagalog
- buhay
- alive in Arabic
- حَيّ ḥayy
- alive in Indonesian
- hidup
- alive in Persian
- زنده zende
- alive in Thai
- มีชีวิต mii-chii-wít, เป็น bpen
- alive in Vietnamese
- sống
Examples of alive in a sentence
- The Boyne, for a quarter of a mile, was alive with muskets and green boughs.1848, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second:
- Like many producers, she [Shonda Rhimes] is also alive to concerns over how AI tools will feed into the process of making TV.2025 September 13, Daniel Thomas, “Lunch with the FT: Shonda Rhimes”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times...
- Beedel raised his slow, meditative eyes and wondered for the hundredth time at the strangely alive expression in the gaze that really seemed to meet his own.1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries:
- I'm the toughest girl alive / I walked through the fire and I survived.2000, Candye Kane, “The Toughest Girl Alive”:
Synonyms of alive
15 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of alive
| comparative | more alive |
|---|---|
| superlative | most alive |
Origin of alive
From Middle English alyve, alive, alife, olive, olife, on live, on life, from Old English on līfe (“alive”, literally “in life" or "in (the) body”), from on (“on, in”) + līfe, dative singular of līf (“life”). In this sense, replaced Old English cwic (whence English quick). Equivalent to a- + life. Compare Dutch in leven (“alive”, literally “in life”), German am Leben (“alive”, literally “at life" or "at living”).
Words formed from alive
- alive and kicking
- alive and well
- alive internet theory
- alively
- aliveness
- born-alive
- catch-'em-alive-O
- Christ alive
- come alive
- dead-alive
- dead-and-alive
- dead or alive
- eat someone alive
- flay someone alive
- for land's sake alive
- for land's sakes alive
- for the land's sake alive
- for the land's sakes alive
- keepalive
- keep hope alive
- land sake alive
- land sakes alive
- land's sake alive
- land's sakes alive
- look alive
- man alive
- mercy sake's alive
- more dead than alive
- nonalive
- saints alive
- sakes alive
- skin someone alive
- snakes alive
- unalive
- working alive
Phrases with alive
- came alive
- comes alive
- looks alive
- coming alive
- looked alive
- looking alive
- ate someone alive
- eats someone alive
- eaten someone alive
- flays someone alive
- skins someone alive
- eating someone alive
4 more phrasesFewer phrases
Words that rhyme with alive
34 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about alive
- What does alive mean?
- Alive means having life; living; not dead.
- What is alive in Hindi?
- Alive in Hindi is जीवित (jīvit), सजीव (sajīv), ज़िंदा (zindā). See Alive meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use alive in a sentence?
- The Boyne, for a quarter of a mile, was alive with muskets and green boughs.
- What part of speech is alive?
- Alive is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce alive?
- Alive is pronounced /əˈlaɪv/.
Words near alive in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: alive (page history and authors); alive (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); جیوندا (Punjabi) (page history and authors); હયાત (Gujarati) (page history and authors); alive (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); জীয়া (Assamese) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-alive.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Back ache-alive.wav.
Cite this entry: “alive.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/alive. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.