"dire existence" is a correct and usable phrase in written English.
It can be used to describe a situation or life that is extremely difficult, unpleasant, or without hope. Example: After losing his job and his home, John was forced to live on the streets, struggling to survive in a dire existence.
Israel, which sees a nuclear Iran as a dire threat to its existence, has pressed for a more forceful military threat.
The key point: At a time of concerted effort by those concerned about climate change to raise Americans' consciousness about its existence and dire potential consequences, American public opinion on the issue has moved in the exact opposite direction.
In seeking an initial round of concessions, the airline promised that it would not seek to void its contracts in bankruptcy court unless faced with dire circumstances that threatened its existence.
Pope Francis issued a dire warning to the world when addressing the UN General Assembly: "The ecological crisis, and the large-scale destruction of biodiversity, can threaten the very existence of the human species". World leaders can no longer ignore the warnings.
Pope Francis issued a dire warning to the world when addressing the UN General Assembly: "The ecological crisis, and the large-scale destruction of biodiversity, can threaten the very existence of the human species".
Eventually, conditions grew so dire that many settled into a semi-pastoral existence, establishing permanent villages amid the farming communities from which they would graze their animals in a 40- or 50-mile radius.
Churchill spent the better part of his life fending off increasingly dire threats to Britain's place in the world, and then to its very existence as an independent nation.
Despite a recent council bail-out of £285,000, they remain in dire financial straits and continue to lead a hand-to-mouth existence.
For Kennedy, the threat to America's existence came from abroad, but the consequences were perhaps even more dire: our Cold War foes presented an existential threat to America, and our conflict presented a threat to humanity itself.
