Meaning & use
existing
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivebefore a noun
Already there or in use now, as opposed to something that is planned or still to be created.
Grammar: Comes before a noun: existing customers, not customers who are existing.
Patterns
- existing customers
- existing rules
- existing conditions
The new software works with your existing files.
We would rather improve the existing road than build a new one.
Existing customers get a discount.
adjectivebefore a nounformal
Present at the moment under discussion, and so likely to be changed or replaced.
Grammar: Often used in legal or business writing: the existing law.
Patterns
- under existing law
- existing legislation
Under existing law, the company cannot sell the land.
Existing regulations will be updated next year.
The existing contract expires in March.
Common combinations
- existing customers
- Existing customers can renew online.
- existing infrastructure
- The plan makes use of existing infrastructure.
- existing conditions
- Doctors consider any existing conditions before prescribing.
- existing law
- Existing law already protects tenants.
- existing stock
- We are selling off the existing stock first.
Synonyms and how they differ
- current
- Current stresses what is happening now, while existing stresses that something is already there.
- present
- Present is more general and often means being in a place, not already established.
- extant
- Extant is a formal word for things that still survive, often old documents or species, and sounds odd for everyday rules or customers.
- established
- Established adds the idea that something has been in place a long time and is accepted.
Opposites
Word family
- exist verb
- to be real or present
- existence noun
- the state of being
- existent adjective
- having existence
- nonexistent adjective
- not existing at all
Commonly confused: existing or exiting?
existing vs exiting
Exiting is the -ing form of exit, meaning leaving, and it is a different word despite the similar look.
Practice
Before building a new bridge, the council studied how to improve the ______ one.
Choose one answer.
Existing is the adjective for something already there. Exiting means leaving and does not fit before bridge.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “existing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.