Make Your Point: SUBSIST

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pronounce SUBSIST:

sub SIST

connect this word to others:

Today we'll explore the word subsist, which literally means "to stay under," or less literally, "to abide, to stay alive."

It belongs to a family of English words from the Latin sistere, meaning "to stand, to stay, or to place." If you can think of an English word with "sist" in it, it likely traces back to sistere. Examples include exist, assist, consist, insist, desist, resist, persist, and solstice.

When you think about each of these words, you can see how they express some kind of literal or figurative standing, staying, or placing. Take assist, for example: to assist someone involves standing near them. And solstice: a time when the sun seems to stand still.

Sistere also found its way into a three-word French term that we use in English; see if you can recall it. It's p_____ d_ r_sista___: "the main dish, the most impressive part, the thing that's so substantial that it resists your efforts to eat it all or take it all in."

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

"Subsist" has Latin bits that literally mean "to stand under," or "to stay under."

To subsist on things is to stay alive because of them: to use them as nutrition, or to use them to survive.

In other words, when you're subsisting, or subsisting in a certain situation, you're making a living and getting by, but not necessarily thriving.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Verb, usually the intransitive kind: "We managed to subsist;" "We subsisted on $6.25 an hour;" "We subsisted on boxes of Hamburger Helper."

Other forms:

The other verb forms are "subsisted" and "subsisting."

The noun is "subsistence."

If you need an adjective, "subsisting" might work; or you could use "subsistent," as in "a subsistent strategy" and "subsistent farmers."

how to use it:

Pick the formal, common word "subsist" when you want to talk seriously about people making ends meet, or getting by, or squeaking by.

We talk about people and other beings subsisting on certain foods, or subsisting on certain amounts of food: "In college, we subsisted on ramen noodles and boxes of Velveeta shells and cheese." "Diets are dangerous when they tell you to subsist on under a thousand calories a day."

And we talk about people subsisting on certain incomes or budgets: "I subsisted on $6.25 an hour in college, but I also had help from my family."

And, we talk about people subsisting in certain places ("It's hard to subsist in Manhattan, where a one-bedroom apartment might cost over four thousand dollars a month"), or as certain types of workers ("It's very difficult to subsist as a full-time YouTuber"), or by doing certain work ("Many people [in the Chocó region in Colombia’s northwest] subsist by mining gold and platinum" [Science]).

If you like to get figurative, you can talk about people subsisting on things that nourish the mind, the heart, or the soul. "If you have no free time to read, maybe you could subsist on audio books during your commute."

Because "subsist" sounds so serious, it's perfect for exaggeration. "My kid cannot subsist without Nutella." "I have no idea how to do things; I couldn't subsist without YouTube tutorials."

examples:

"Since eucalyptuses are particularly resistant to fire, they spread far and wide while other trees and shrubs disappeared... Koalas, which subsist exclusively on eucalyptus leaves, happily munched their way into new territories."
— Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, 2011

"Once on American soil, the migrants subsist in makeshift open-air camps, where the number of tents are not nearly enough for the number of migrants."
— Melissa Gomez, Los Angeles Times, 28 November 2023

"She seems perfectly content to subsist on the crumbs of attention tossed her way."
— Charles Isherwood, New York Times, 30 January 2017

has this page helped you understand "subsist"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

study it:

Explain the meaning of "subsist" without saying "live" or "get by."

try it out:

According to the Guardian, here's how the director Tom Ford lives his life:

"He wakes at 4.30am, barely sleeps and can subsist for days on just iced coffee and Oreo Thins."

That sounds a little gross to me, but to each their own! I'd go with diet soda and lupini bean pasta.

How about you? If you had to subsist on just one beverage and one food, what would you pick?

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month is Subject Line Matching!

Try matching each capitalized term below with the email subject line that I used to introduce it. For an extra challenge, try recalling what each term means and how the subject line connects to it.

Try these today:

DUMBFOUND: _____________
EXPUNGE: _____________
EXTIRPATE: _____________
JOUST: _____________
REVEL: _____________

"...?"
for those who lance a lot
it is an ex-turnip
when your Bohemian Rhapsody headbanging moment has arrived
when your loofah unravels?

To see the correct answers, scroll all the way down.

review this word:

1. Opposites of SUBSIST include

A. WIN and LOSE.
B. THRIVE and DIE.
C. SWEETEN and SOUR.

2. Mindful of the metaphor inherent in the word "subsist," a New York Times reviewer wrote that in Death of a Salesman, the main character's "singleminded pursuit of success has blinded him to the love of his own family, robbed him of his sense of self, and left him to subsist on a _____ of illusions."

A. diet
B. cloud
C. shadow

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
On vocabulary...
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  Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
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From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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