QUI VIVE Definition & Meaning

qui vive

[ kee veev ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

who goes there? (used as a sentry's challenge)

qui vive

/ ˌkiː ˈviːv /

noun

on the qui vive
on the alert; attentive

Discover More

�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of qui vive¹

1720–30; < French: literally, (long) live who? (i.e., on whose side are you?)

Discover More

�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of qui vive¹

C18: from French, literally: long live who?, sentry's challenge (equivalent to "To whose party do you belong?" or "Whose side do you support?")

Discover More

Idioms and Phrases

on the qui vive, on the alert; watchful:
Special guards were on the qui vive for trespassers.

Discover More

Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

“Like hungry little foxes,” her co-conspirators are “always on the qui vive, looking to squeeze out every bit of fun they could in the thicket of rules and regulations.”

From

She looked quite stunning as she walked across the dining room to the table, not at all unlike a girl on the qui vive appropriate to a big college weekend.

From

Madeline Grover's breathless story had set every one on the qui vive, and for several minutes everyone was wondering what all the rest would do.

From

What she might say next was never certain, and the uncertainty kept him always on the qui vive.

From

This put us upon the qui vive; Philip and myself still remained on board the armed vessels, and sending my schooner on ahead, we followed her, one on each quarter.

From

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Browse