extant

10 synonyms and 1 antonym for extant, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.

Adj — Still existing; not lost or destroyed.

Synonyms

Everyday swaps

Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.

existing live vital living alive

Less common

Still standard English, but they carry more weight.

existent kicking surviving

Rare, literary or technical

Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.

vitalic animate

Synonyms by Meaning

1. adj

Still existing; not lost or destroyed.

“Some have argued that no one moment and/or process of textual formation should be presumed for any of these texts, and that they were constantly in a state of becoming, but the extant evidence does not support such a position.”

existing existent

Opposites

extinct

2. adj

Still living, as a species; not extinct.

“birds are the only extant dinosaurs”

live vitalic vital kicking living surviving animate alive

Etymology

First recorded in 1545. It comes from Latin extantem, extāns, the present participle of extō (“to stand out, exist, be extant”), from ex- (“out”) plus stō (“stand”).

Full origin of extant →

People also searched

live living alive existing vital kicking surviving extinct existent animate vitalic

Nearby words

← Back to the full definition of extant