subsistent
Having real being
Subsistent describes something that exists or has being, particularly in a basic or minimal way.
In philosophy, it refers to things that have independent existence rather than depending on something else.
More practically, subsistent can mean barely surviving or maintaining existence at a minimal level: subsistent wages, a subsistent lifestyle.
The word overlaps with but is rarer than subsisting.
Self-reliant land-based lifestyle
- off-gridWithout utility connections
- self-reliantAble to provide independently
- autonomousSelf-directed and free
- independentFree from external control
smallholding · self-sustaining · agrarian · permaculture · foraging · hunting · fishing · gathering
Deficient in quantity
- scantyInsufficient in amount
- sparseThinly scattered or distributed
- bareLacking any covering
- skeletalOf or like bones
stripped · pared-down · necessities · essential · fundamental · rudimentary · scant · limited
Persisting through time
- perseveringMaintaining effort despite difficulty
- survivingRemaining alive or intact
- sustainingMaintaining over time
- maintainingKeeping in condition
hand-to-mouth · day-to-day · precarious · marginal · hardscrabble · struggle · tenacious · resilient
Rigorously simple, unadorned
- asceticOne who renounces indulgence
- frugalSparing with resources
- abstemiousPracticing restraint with indulgences
- monasticOf religious community life
plain · simple · unadorned · restrained · sober · puritanical · severe · stern
Pre-farming subsistence lifestyle
- nomadicWithout fixed residence
- tribalOf a clan
- foragingSeeking wild food sources
- ancestralOf one's forebears
prehistoric · neolithic · paleolithic · stone-age · clan · kinship · traditional · indigenous
homesteading
Self-reliant land-based lifestyle
- off-gridWithout utility connections
- self-reliantAble to provide independently
- autonomousSelf-directed and free
independent · smallholding · self-sustaining · agrarian · permaculture · foraging · hunting · fishing · gathering · kitchen-garden
meager
Deficient in quantity
skeletal · stripped · pared-down · necessities · essential · fundamental · rudimentary · scant · limited · insufficient
enduring
Persisting through time
- perseveringMaintaining effort despite difficulty
- survivingRemaining alive or intact
- sustainingMaintaining over time
maintaining · hand-to-mouth · day-to-day · precarious · marginal · hardscrabble · struggle · tenacious · resilient · persistent
spartan
Rigorously simple, unadorned
- asceticOne who renounces indulgence
- frugalSparing with resources
- abstemiousPracticing restraint with indulgences
monastic · plain · simple · unadorned · restrained · sober · puritanical · severe · stern · self-denying
hunter-gatherer
Pre-farming subsistence lifestyle
ancestral · prehistoric · neolithic · paleolithic · stone-age · clan · kinship · traditional · indigenous · seminomadic
subsistentdependent
Requiring outside support
contingent · derivative · accidental · reliant · relational
subsistentillusory
Falsely appearing to exist
nonexistent · non-existent · imaginary · unreal · insubstantial
- subsistence farmerGrower producing for household consumption
- subsistence farmingGrowing food for household
- subsistence farmSelf-sufficient agricultural plot
- subsistence livingSurviving without surplus
- subsistence huntingHunting solely for food
- subsistence wagesMinimum income for survival