exist is one of the 1000 most common headwords. exercise - exist - expect Pronunciation IPA (key): /ɪɡˈzɪst/ Audio (US)(file) Verb Plain form exist Third-person singular exists Past tense existed Past participle existed Present participle existing Exist is on the Academic Vocabulary List. (intransitive) If something exist, it is real and has some kind of being. Dinosaurs used to exist. She thinks that aliens do not exist. Your ideas only exist in your mind. There exists a possibility that we will win. Related words existence existentWikiwand - on Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.