livelihood
/ˈlaɪvlihʊd/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.42 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A means of providing the necessities of life for oneself (for example, a job or income).
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "an independent livelihood; to make / earn / gain / win a good livelihood by the sweat of one's brow"
- "But now when Philtra ſaw my lands decay, And former liuelod fayle, ſhe left me quight[…]."
- "[…] a Man may as easily know where to find one, to teach him to Debauch, Whore, Game, and Blaspheme, as to teach him to Write, or Cast Accompt: ’Tis their Support, and Business; nay, their very Profession, and Livelihood; getting their Living by those Practices, for which they deserve to forfeit their Lives."
- "1716, Joseph Addison, The Free-Holder, London: D. Midwinter and J. Tonson, No. 42, Monday May 14, p. 245, Trade […] employs Multitudes of Hands both by Sea and Land, and furnishes the poorest of our Fellow-Subjects with the Opportunities of gaining an honest Livelihood."
- "And now he’s dead, and left her a widow, and she is staying here; and we are racking our brains to find out some way of helping her to a livelihood without parting her from her child."
- "[The Orthodox Jewish shopkeepers] could be seen behind their counters, wearing black skullcaps, full beards, and long earlocks, eking out their meager livelihoods and dreaming of Shabbat and festivals when they could close their stores and turn their attention to their prayers, their rabbi, their God."
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈlaɪvlihʊd/
- British English: /ˈlaɪvlihʊd/