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having life; ; existing; not dead or lifeless.
(used for emphasis):
the proudest man alive.
in a state of action; in force or operation; active:
to keep hope alive.
full of energy and spirit; lively:
Grandmother’s more alive than most of her contemporaries.
having the quality of life; vivid; vibrant:
The room was alive with color.
Electricity, 2 (def 17).
alive to, alert or sensitive to; aware of:
City planners are alive to the necessity of revitalizing deteriorating neighborhoods.
alive with, filled with living things; swarming; teeming:
The room was alive with mosquitoes.
look alive!, pay attention! move quickly!:
Look alive! We haven’t got all day.
Contemporary Examples

Mr. Singh is alive, thankfully, but he is currently hospitalized with extensive internal injures.
New York’s Sikhs Need Their Own Al Sharpton Dean Obeidallah August 7, 2014

That’s almost twice as many years as you’ve been alive, so relax.
Ask the Blogger Megan McArdle November 25, 2012

The good news is the Feds realize that they have to be alive to the risks and be aware of repeating the Japanese experience.
Will We Double-Dip? August 5, 2011

My aunt Sadie, God bless her, gave us some kind of a stipend that kept us alive.
Mel Brooks Is Always Funny and Often Wise in This 1975 Playboy Interview Alex Belth February 15, 2014

Here’s another fact: Islamophobia is alive and well in America.
Commentary Whitewashes Discrimination Raphael Magarik May 7, 2012

Historical Examples

If Bukatski were alive, he would let out his tongue now at their expense.
Children of the Soil Henryk Sienkiewicz

Do you think, if I were alive, I would let any man rob me of the savings of my life?
Brave and Bold Horatio Alger

Only the gleam of his curious pink eyes, told that he was alive.
Red Dynamite Roy J. Snell

He came home with me, and, far from having perished at sea, is now alive and well.
Brave and Bold Horatio Alger

“My brother might have been alive now if only he had taken his quinine,” said Jim.
The Hero of Panama F. S. Brereton

adjective (postpositive)
(of people, animals, plants, etc) living; having life
in existence; active: they kept hope alive, the tradition was still alive
(immediately postpositive and usually used with a superlative) of those living; now living: the happiest woman alive
full of life; lively: she was wonderfully alive for her age
(usually foll by with) animated: a face alive with emotion
(foll by to) aware (of); sensitive (to)
(foll by with) teeming (with): the mattress was alive with fleas
(electronics) another word for live2 (sense 11)
alive and kicking, (of a person) active and in good health
look alive!, hurry up! get busy!
adj.

c.1200, from Old English on life “in living.” The fuller form on live was still current 17c. Alive and kicking “alert, vigorous,” attested from 1859; “The allusion is to a child in the womb after quickening” [Farmer]. Used emphatically, especially with man; e.g.:

[A]bout a thousand gentlemen having bought his almanacks for this year, merely to find what he said against me, at every line they read they would lift up their eyes, and cry out betwixt rage and laughter, “they were sure no man alive ever writ such damned stuff as this.” [Jonathan Swift, Bickerstaff’s Vindication, 1709]

Thus abstracted as an expletive, man alive! (1845).

alive and kicking
alive to
alive with

also see:

come alive
eat someone alive
look alive
more dead than alive
skin alive