Synonyms

maintain

American

[meyn-teyn] / meɪnˈteɪn /

verb (used with object)

to keep in existence or continuance; preserve; retain.

to maintain good relations with neighboring countries.

Synonyms:

keep up, continue

Antonyms:

discontinue
to keep in an appropriate condition, operation, or force; keep unimpaired.

to maintain order; to maintain public highways.

Synonyms:

keep up
to keep in a specified state, position, etc..

to maintain a correct posture; to maintain good health.
to affirm; assert; declare.

He maintained that the country was going downhill.

Synonyms:

asseverate
to support in speech or argument, as a statement or proposition.

Synonyms:

justify, vindicate, defend, uphold

Antonyms:

contradict
to keep or hold against attack.

to maintain one's ground.
to provide for the upkeep or support of; carry the expenses of.

to maintain a family.
to sustain or support.

not enough water to maintain life.

maintain British

/ meɪnˈteɪn /

verb

to continue or retain; keep in existence
to keep in proper or good condition

to maintain a building
to support a style of living

the money maintained us for a month
(takes a clause as object) to state or assert

he maintained that Talbot was wrong
to defend against contradiction; uphold

she maintained her innocence
to defend against physical attack

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Usage

What are other ways to say maintain? To maintain something is to keep it in existence, or to preserve it. How does maintain compare to the synonyms support, sustain, and uphold? Learn more on Thesaurus.com.

Synonym Usage

Maintain, assert, aver, allege, hold, state all mean to express an opinion, judgment, or position. Maintain carries the implications of both firmness and persistence in declaring or supporting a conviction: She maintained her client's innocence even in the face of damaging evidence. Assert suggests assurance, confidence, and sometimes aggressiveness in the effort to persuade others to agree with or accept one's position: He asserted again and again the government's right to control the waterway. Aver, like assert, implies confident declaration and sometimes suggests a firmly positive or peremptory tone; in legal use aver means “to allege as fact”: to aver that the evidence is incontrovertible. Allege indicates a statement without evidence to support it, and thus can imply doubt as to the validity or accuracy of an assertion: The official is alleged to have been unaware of the crime. Hold means simply to have or express a conviction or belief: We hold these truths to be self-evident; She held that her rights had been violated. State usually suggests a declaration that is forthright and unambiguous: He stated his reasons in clear, simple language.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of maintain

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English mainteinen from Old French maintenir, ultimately from Medieval Latin manūtenēre, Latin manū tenēre literally, “to hold in hand,” equivalent to manū, ablative of manus “hand” + tenēre “to hold”; see manual, tenet

Explanation

Maintain means to keep the same––keep steady, keep up, or keep going. Sure, you can ride your bike super fast on a flat surface, but it can be hard to maintain that speed, or keep the same speed, going up a hill. When you maintain a strict study schedule, you stick to it. When you maintain your car in good working order, you take good care of it. If you maintain records of your business activity, it means you make notes of your sales and expenses. If a teacher maintains order in the classroom, she never lets disruptions get out of hand. If you maintain your family, you keep them in food, shelter and clothing. If you maintain that eating animals is cruel, you keep that position.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing maintain

Words That Could Go Either Way: Synonyms for "Maybe"

Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!

Words for Father's Day: What Fathers Do

Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!

On Your Mark, Get Set, Commence Your Life!

Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

maintain maintains maintained maintaining

While Carvajal has left after his contract expired, the arrival of Denzel Dumfries from Inter Milan will maintain the challenge Alexander-Arnold faces for a starting place.

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026

The study also found signs of age-related decline in cells that help maintain the blood-brain barrier, the protective boundary that controls what can pass from the bloodstream into the brain.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026

By the end of 2024, efforts to maintain Rattle’s product while building a new “superagent” had stalled.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

The aim is to manage relations between countries over the long term to maintain stability and predictability; it’s not a “winner take all” proposition.

From Salon ● Aug. 7, 2026

Ultimately, though, the producers concluded that there just weren’t enough people interested in chess to maintain a large enough viewing audience.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

The Gavi global vaccine alliance maintains a stockpile of 500,000 Ervebo doses.

From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026

However, he maintains that India's leaders could still change their approach.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

The company maintains a presence in the Los Angeles area with offices in Marina del Rey and Chatsworth.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

Citi maintains its buy rating on NetEase and keeps its ADR target price at $174.00.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

The scorekeeper maintains a stern face, disqualifies the shooter.

From "Wringer" by Jerry Spinelli

Seoul has strengthened surveillance and maintained readiness for possible additional launches while sharing information with its security allies the United States and Japan, the JCS said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026

"Are footpaths maintained and cleaned? Does the city ensure they aren't encroached upon?" he says.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

The German media company maintained its full-year outlook after it reported robust Ebitda growth in the first half.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

“We turn away from such evil at our own peril,” Kennedy maintained.

From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026

Until 1850, many of these presidents brought enslaved servants to work at the White House, which was also built and maintained with enslaved labor.

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis

In this way, the researchers were able to address a difficult tradeoff between achieving a highly ordered atomic structure and maintaining an even distribution of very small catalyst particles.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026

Nomura cuts the stock’s target price by 9% to 41,000 won while maintaining its neutral rating.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

“Hopefully, people come away recognizing that we have to think about doing things differently than maintaining the status quo, because a lot of what we’re doing is not working,” Goode says.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

Under the South Korea-US combined defence posture "our military is maintaining the capability and readiness to respond overwhelmingly to any provocation", Seoul's JCS said Thursday.

From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026

Like other designed objects, it comes about not by accident but by drafting a blueprint, attending to details, and maintaining a sense of harmony and balance.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

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