alive.
Having life; living; not dead.
Meaning & usage
Having life; living; not dead.
As long as the plant is alive, he will continue to water it.
In a state of action; in force or operation; existent.
to keep the fire alive
to keep the affections alive
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.
Sprightly; lively; brisk.
Susceptible, sensitive; easy to impress; having keen feelings, as opposed to apathy.
Out of all living creatures.
The Whitest Boy Alive
Synonym of live.
Where this word comes from
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”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.