Word.ws English Dictionary

live in the shadow of

Syllables: live in the shad·ow ofUS/lɪv ɪn ðə ˈʃædoʊ ʌv/

live in the shadow of verb: to be overshadowed one's entire life, especially by a relative or predecessor.

Verb

live in the shadow of (third-person singular simple present lives in the shadow of, present participle living in the shadow of, simple past and past participle lived in the shadow of)

  1. (idiomatic) To be overshadowed one's entire life, especially by a relative or predecessor.
    • Many historical personalities have lived in the shadow of great men; Harry Truman in the shadow of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Joseph Lowery in the shadow of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Hank Aaron in the shadow of Babe Ruth.1995, Robert Smith, In the Shadow of C. L. Franklin
    • Paul Fisher lives in the shadow of his older brother, Erik. Legally blind, Paul still manages to play soccer while Erik steals the family's attention as a star football kicker. Slowly the truth about Paul's blindness comes out in[…]2004, Christie Jo Bott, The Bully in the Book and in the Classroom, Scarecrow Press, →ISBN, page 162
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see live, in, the, shadow, of.

Forms of live in the shadow of

third-person singular presentlives in the shadow of
present participleliving in the shadow of
past participlelived in the shadow of
pastlived in the shadow of
alternative formlive in someone's shadow

Words that rhyme with live in the shadow of

1 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about live in the shadow of

What does live in the shadow of mean?
Live in the shadow of means to be overshadowed one's entire life, especially by a relative or predecessor.
What part of speech is live in the shadow of?
Live in the shadow of is a verb.
How do you pronounce live in the shadow of?
Live in the shadow of is pronounced /lɪv ɪn ðə ˈʃædoʊ ʌv/ (US).
What is the past tense of live in the shadow of?
The past tense of live in the shadow of is lived in the shadow of.

Words near live in the shadow of in the dictionary

  1. live in
  2. live in each other's pockets
  3. live in hope
  4. live in sin
  5. live in the past
  6. live in the shadow of
  7. live Internet feed
  8. live Internet feeds
  9. live it up
  10. live large
  11. live like a fighting cock

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: live in the shadow of (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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