Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use livelihood in a sentence

31 example sentences · noun

Livelihood means a means of providing the necessities of life for oneself (for example, a job or income). Example: “Broad, flat marshes on the Loughor Estuary provide Pen-clawdd with its basic livelihood - cockles.”

Examples of livelihood by meaning

nounA means of providing the necessities of life for oneself (for example, a job or income).

  • Broad, flat marshes on the Loughor Estuary provide Pen-clawdd with its basic livelihood - cockles.1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 311, about Pen-clawdd
  • The legal profession believes that client choice is the best way of ensuring standards remain high, because a lawyer's livelihood depends upon their reputation.2013, Matthew Claughton, The Guardian, (letter), 25 April

More sentences with livelihood

  • Maimonides defined the highest level of giving as helping a man achieve a livelihood or profession.2010, James E. Hughes Jr., Family: The Compact among Generations, page 73. From the entry give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime
  • He was gruff and loud and unafraid of the aberrationally tall young men who were his livelihood.2009, Jonathan Schwartz, All in Good Time: A Memoir, page 115. From the entry aberrationally
  • The inhabitants said that they indulge in galamsey because there are no other alternative livelihood sources.2008, The State of Human Rights in Mining Communities in Ghana, page 58. From the entry galamsey
  • They were wielding the tools of their livelihood, but as weapons – scythes, hoes, loys, billhooks.2002, Joseph O'Conner, Star of the Sea, Vintage, published 2003, page 28. From the entry loy
  • Wood remains one of Africa’s most vital natural resources, supporting livelihoods, economic development and industrial growth across the continent.2026 June 12, Jane Mutune, Peter Minang, “Building a resilient wood-based bioeconomy in Africa”, in Forest News. From the entry wood
  • Sockeye salmon are inseparable from kʷikʷəƛ̓əm culture, identity and livelihood, and once sustained the nation’s people from season to season.2022 November 10, “kʷikʷəƛ̓əm First Nation breaks ground on vital sockeye salmon hatchery”, in Global News. From the entry kʷikʷəƛ̓əm
  • This approach plays fast and loose with ordinary people's livelihoods.2017 March 27, “The Observer view on triggering article 50: As Britain hurtles towards the precipice, truth and democracy are in short…. From the entry jingoistic
  • Water and land for the Ts'kw'aylaxw are undeniably linked and epitomize the livelihoods, culture, and spirit of the band.2013, Jessica Stephens-Whale, An Account of Ts‘kw’aylaxw Philosophy and Use of Water in the Central Interior of British Columbia…. From the entry Stl'atl'imxets
  • This coffee is produced by a group of women in the Kgalgadi district who sell it to improve their livelihoods.2011, Segametsi Ditshebo Maruapula, Karen Chapman-Novakofski, “Botswana”, in Sari Edelstein, editor, Food, Cuisine, and Cultural…. From the entry motlopi
  • From an ideological perspective, rural productive life was glorified, while the urban luftgeschaeft, non-productive livelihoods such as commerce, was constantly criticized.2011, Hizky Shoham, “Of Other Cinematic Spaces: Urban Zionism in Early Hebrew Cinema”, in Israel Studies Review, page 131. From the entry luftgeschaeft
  • "Admitting it was something else entirely, since any evidence could have destroyed my livelihood (or so I thought)."2005 November 7, Edward Guthmann, “’50s idol Tab Hunter had a secret. He’s gay. And he wrote about it.”, in San Francisco Chronicle, San…. From the entry double life
  • Making the run from Taipei to Panchiao every day to sell the gold-colored paper, he scraped together a meager livelihood.2002, Huang Chin-shing, Business as a Vocation: The Autobiography of Wu Ho-Su, Harvard University Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 26. From the entry meager
  • An Oxford avatar of the old zamindar mentality―a landlord forcing his attentions on women who depended on him for their livelihood.1997, Arundhati Roy, chapter 2, in The God of Small Things, New York: Random House, page 63. From the entry zamindar
  • According to Tu, two hundred years ago the nearby mountains furnished livelihood substitutes for the scanty farmland of Kuanmiao.1984 November 1, “Kuanmiao crafts comfort for the world”, in Taiwan Today, archived from the original on 11 Sep 2023. From the entry Chishan
  • The tobacco, which provides the livelihood for virtually the entire hsien of Engteng, is shipped to Swatow in Kwangtung.1972, Theodore Shabad, China's Changing Map, New York: Frederick A. Praeger, →LCCN, →OCLC, pages 176–177. From the entry Engteng
  • The earliest mining consisted simply in collecting shoads — a means of gaining a livelihood not yet totally discarded.1915, Lionel Clive Ball, The Etheridge Mineral Field, page 37. From the entry shoad
  • At risk were local wildlife — migratory birds and the capelin and lobster that local fish harvesters rely on for their livelihoods.2025 December 29, Lindsay Jones, “A Newfoundland winter brings new risks to Coast Guard's biggest-ever operation. Crews at mercy of the…. From the entry container
  • Being from a lower caste, she earns her meager livelihood by cleaning the stairs and guarding the locality (the conventional roles are topsy turvyed).2007, “Portrayal of Diaspora Experiences”, in Basavaraj Naikar, editor, Indian English Literature, volume II, New Delhi: Atlantic…. From the entry topsy-turvy
  • Last year's earthquake crushed his house, his livelihood and very nearly his leg, he said, pointing to a plastered limb that refuses to heal.2006 October 6, Declan Walsh, The Guardian. From the entry earthquake
  • Many of the abandoned fieldlings find in youth gangs a sense of belonging and power, thus getting themselves entangled in the nerfarious drug-trade for livelihood.1995, Drug addiction and environmental pollution - Page 135. From the entry fieldling
  • Now and again one of them, flushed with triumph, would secern himself from his troupe, and would "star" round the country for his livelihood.1907 October, Max Beerbohm, “‘A Morris for May-Day’”, in Harper’s Monthly Magazine, volume CXV, number DCLXXXIX, New York, N.Y.: Harper &…. From the entry secern
  • The livelihoods of the people in Naro revolve largely around yak herding, production of dairy products such as cheese and butter, and collection of high-altitude medicinal plants like cordyceps.n.d., “Naro Gewog”, in Dzongkhag Administration Thimphu, Bhutan, archived from the original on 02 Jan 2026. From the entry Naro
  • But could you, in all conscience, deprive these good people, who are, after all, trying to do their best, of meaningful employment, of earning their livelihoods?2014, Belva Boroditsky Thomas, The Longest Adventure, page 201. From the entry in all conscience
  • The spread of venereal disease slaughtered innocent wives and families by the thousands; the plague of bawdy houses destroyed the peace and livelihood of honest citizens.2012, Faramerz Dabhoiwala, The Origins of Sex, Penguin, published 2013, page 57. From the entry bawdy-house
  • The plaza also allows for sociability with the downstairs neighbor, Simon (Tony Hale), a jivey video store owner whose obsolete livelihood means that he has time on his hands.2007 March 15, Virginia Heffernan, “With a Couch Potato’s Style, Private Eye Works the Mall”, in New York Times. From the entry jivey
  • Her father angrily disowned her and the young couple had no means of livelihood so they opened a winehouse where Wên-chün herself served behind the counter.1971, Yin C. Liu, Tao Tao Sanders, “Chapter 10: Chinese Literature”, in David Marshall Lang, editor, A Guide to Eastern Literatures…. From the entry winehouse
  • Now we have him knighted, by a rascal who, tiring of thieving a livelihood by the road-side, assures it by cleaning out his guests; and by two revirginated strumpets.1927, Miguel de Unamuno, The life of Don Quixote and Sancho according to Miguel de Cervantes. From the entry revirginated
  • Share-herding or purchase of small livestock are livelihood strategies within the reach of households headed by women, aided by children herders, but constraints including shortage of pasture and animal feed.2003, Priscilla Stone, Peter Castro, “Gender Dynamics and Household Drought Coping and Recovery Strategies in South Wollo and Oromiya…. From the entry share-herding
  • But it was the woolen industry that provided the elder Smibert with a livelihood, for as a litster he spent his days dyeing wool, which was then woven into cloth.1995, Richard H. Saunders, John Smibert: Colonial America's First Portrait Painter, Yale University Press, →ISBN, pages 1–2. From the entry litster

Meaning of livelihood

  1. noun A means of providing the necessities of life for oneself (for example, a job or income).
  2. noun Property which brings in an income; an estate.
  3. noun Liveliness; appearance of life.

Full definition of livelihood

Questions about livelihood in a sentence

How do you use livelihood in a sentence?
Livelihood is used as a noun. For example: “Broad, flat marshes on the Loughor Estuary provide Pen-clawdd with its basic livelihood - cockles.”
What is a short sentence with livelihood?
“This approach plays fast and loose with ordinary people's livelihoods.”
What does livelihood mean?
Livelihood means a means of providing the necessities of life for oneself (for example, a job or income).

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: livelihood (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use livelihood in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/livelihood. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.