existing

American  

[ig-zis-ting] / ɪgˈzɪs tɪŋ /

adjective

1. already or previously in place, before being replaced, altered, or added to.

   Fundraising costs money, and recruiting new donors is more expensive than asking existing supporters to give a little more.

2. having actual being or life.

   The great ornithologist Alexander Wetmore, who died in 1978, allegedly declared that all existing species of birds had already been discovered.

3. occurring in a specified place or under specified conditions.

   Members of committees dealing with the behavior of intelligence services met to discuss the existing challenges and exchange best practices.

4. achieving only the basic needs of existence, as food and shelter.

   Forrest Bess was a marginally existing bait fisherman and artist who lived in a ramshackle cabin on the Gulf of Mexico.

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Other Word Forms

• nonexisting adjective
• unexisting adjective

Etymology

Origin of existing

exist ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. )

Explanation

If something is existing, it's real. When you make a list of existing mammals, you can't include unicorns, because they don't really exist. Something that's real can be said to exist, or to be existing. The existing laws in your state are the ones that are actually on the books, and your existing friends are the ones you really have, and who are all alive and well. The verb exist, at the root of the adjective existing, comes from the Latin existere, "come into being," from a combination of ex, "out," and sistere, "take a stand."

Example Sentences

It replaces an existing steel measure that is set to expire at the end of June.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026

In these extreme environments, intense heat produces gamma rays that strip neutrons and other particles from existing heavy nuclei.

From Science Daily • Apr. 14, 2026

As part of the deal with Globalstar, Amazon will acquire its existing infrastructure and assets, including spectrum licenses and two dozen satellites.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 14, 2026

The Lib Dems say they would pass a new law that would require developers to fund, build, or expand existing GP surgeries in time for the arrival of new residents.

From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026

There was another option, which was to use an existing phrase that avoided the term ‘philosophy’—‘natural science’—and this usage was common in the seventeenth century.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Related Words

• actual
• current
• extant