1 B2 idiomatic neutral
To be able to accept your own actions or decisions without feeling overwhelming guilt or shame.
"If I had stayed silent and said nothing, I couldn't have lived with myself."
live with oneself
B2 neutral intransitive
To be able to accept your own conscience and feel at peace with the decisions or actions you have taken.
In plain English
To feel okay about yourself after doing something — to not feel too guilty to carry on.
What does "live with oneself" mean?
2 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
2 B2 idiomatic informal
Used rhetorically to accuse someone of behaving in a shameful or dishonest way.
"How can you live with yourself after treating your family like that?"
Literal vs figurative
Words literally mean
To be able to exist in one's own company — a metaphor for inner peace and self-acceptance.
Actually means
To feel okay about yourself after doing something — to not feel too guilty to carry on.
Usage tip
Almost always used in negative or conditional constructions: 'I couldn't live with myself', 'How do you live with yourself?'. It implies a moral standard the speaker holds themselves to. The question 'How do you live with yourself?' is often rhetorical and accusatory.
Words that pair with "live with oneself"
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
guilt decision conscience knowing having done shame
How to conjugate "live with oneself"
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
Base
live with oneself
I/you/we/they
3rd person
lives with oneself
he/she/it
Past simple
lived with oneself
yesterday
Past participle
lived with oneself
have + pp
-ing form
living with oneself
continuous
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Other ways to say "live with oneself"
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accept oneself face oneself feel at peace with oneself have a clear conscience live with one's conscience
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