Word.ws English Dictionary

can't live with them, can't live without them

can't live with them, can't live without them proverb: there is a hopeless, ongoing conflict between annoyance with someone or something and need for that same person or thing.

Proverb

can't live with them, can't live without them

  1. There is a hopeless, ongoing conflict between annoyance with someone or something and need for that same person or thing.
    • You've got to find the woman that works for you. Because, after all, we can't live with them, can't live without them.1996 July 7, A. J. Benza, “Is Sly using his muscle to stop tell-all?”, in New York Daily News, retrieved 13 Aug 2015
    • Can't live with them, can't live without them. Like tweezers, pagers and passport control, computers are essential for modern living. They're marvellous (the erotic e-mail is the new love letter) and totally rubbish (it takes three hours to turn the printer on).1999 July 25, Cayte Williams, “Why won't my !@*!!@ machine work?”, in Independent, UK, retrieved 13 Aug 2015

Forms of can't live with them, can't live without them

alternative formcan't live with 'em, can't live without 'em
alternative formyou can't live with them, you can't live without them

Questions about can't live with them, can't live without them

What does can't live with them, can't live without them mean?
Can't live with them, can't live without them means there is a hopeless, ongoing conflict between annoyance with someone or something and need for that same person or thing.
What part of speech is can't live with them, can't live without them?
Can't live with them, can't live without them is a proverb.

Words near can't live with them, can't live without them in the dictionary

  1. can't help
  2. can't help but
  3. can't lie
  4. can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em
  5. can't live with them and can't live without them
  6. can't live with them, can't live without them
  7. can't park there, mate
  8. can't seem
  9. can't stand
  10. can't stand the sight of
  11. can't wait

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: can't live with them, can't live without them (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.

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