Both verbs refer to staying or remaining alive despite adverse conditions, circumstances, or events. Survive can suggest living on after something (survived the drought) or living or getting through something very difficult (survived by begging). Subsist is closer to the latter sense of survive. It refers to how a person or animal survives physically, particularly with respect to nutrition and often suggests obtaining the minimum food or nutrients necessary to live (subsist by hunting; subsisted on nuts and berries). Those who are said to subsist on a particular diet, usually eat only one or two types of food, which may be due to scarcity, poverty, or an unbalanced lifestyle (subsisted on a diet of coffee and donuts).

How do you know when someone is truly sorry? When they’re contrite. Sorry’s most common use is in an apology, where it acknowledges, and suggests regret for, something one has done to another. It can also simply describe this feeling of regret about an action (He was sorry to have forgotten her birthday). Contrite suggests a sincere feeling of remorse or, in Christian contexts, repentance. In religious texts, contrite is frequently applied to the heart or spirit. In general usage, it is commonly found paired with the verbs “to be,” “to look,” “to sound” and “to appear” or modifying nouns such as expression, statement, or tone, all of which gauge the credibility of an apology.

Both verbs suggest prompting or encouraging a person or group to undertake something or to pursue something, Motivate refers to giving a person or group a reason or a desire to do a thing, or to pursue it with more drive (players motivated by a monetary prize; the teacher who motivated her to go to college). Galvanize refers to stimulating or energizing a person or group into action, particularly by provoking a response. The typical object of galvanize is a large group—the public, voters, the community, a movement—or the collective sentiment, opinion, efforts or actions of a group (a speech that galvanized public opinion).