survival mode

Meanings

1. 1noununcountableinformal

   A state in which someone does only what is necessary to get through a difficult period, with no energy for anything else.

   Grammar: Used as a fixed phrase, usually after 'in' or 'into'; it rarely takes 'a' or a plural.

   Patterns

   • in survival mode
   • go into survival mode
   • be in survival mode

   After the baby was born, we lived in survival mode for months.

   When the deadlines piled up, she went into survival mode and stopped answering personal messages.

   He calls it survival mode: work, eat, sleep, repeat.

2. 2noununcountablecomputing

   A setting on a video game in which the player must find food and shelter and can die permanently.

   Grammar: Used as a game setting, often after 'in' or 'on': 'play on survival mode'.

   Patterns

   • play in survival mode
   • survival mode is hard
   • switch to survival mode

   In survival mode you have to gather wood before nightfall.

   My brother only plays survival mode because he likes the pressure.

   The update made survival mode much harder.

Common combinations

go into survival mode

As soon as the storm hit, the whole town went into survival mode.

live in survival mode

They lived in survival mode until his salary started again.

pure survival mode

Those first weeks were pure survival mode.

switch into survival mode

She can switch into survival mode when a project gets stressful.

survival mode kicks in

When I'm exhausted, survival mode kicks in and I stop planning ahead.

Synonyms and how they differ

crisis mode

Crisis mode stresses that there is an emergency, while survival mode stresses that you are doing only the bare minimum to keep going.

autopilot

Autopilot means acting without thinking; survival mode is more about having no spare energy or time.

Word family

survive verb

to continue to live or exist after a difficult event

survivor noun

a person who lives through a dangerous event

survival noun

the state of continuing to live or exist

Commonly confused: survival mode or survival instinct?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “survival mode”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words