sustain

American  

[suh-stayn] / səˈsteɪn /

verb (used with object)

• sustains,
  present (3rd person singular)
• sustained,
  past participle,  past
• sustaining
  present participle

1. 

   to support, hold, or bear up from below; bear the weight of, as a structure.

   Synonyms:

   carry

2. to bear (a burden, charge, etc.).

3. to undergo, experience, or suffer (injury, loss, etc.); endure without giving way or yielding.

   Synonyms:

   bear

4. to keep (a person, the mind, the spirits, etc.) from giving way, as under trial or affliction.

5. to keep up or keep going, as an action or process.

   to sustain a conversation.

   Synonyms:

   maintain

6. to supply with food, drink, and other necessities of life.

7. to provide for (an institution or the like) by furnishing means or funds.

8. to support (a cause or the like) by aid or approval.

9. to uphold as valid, just, or correct, as a claim or the person making it.

   The judge sustained the lawyer's objection.

10. to confirm or corroborate, as a statement.

    Further investigation sustained my suspicions.

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sustain British  

/ səˈsteɪn /

verb

1. to hold up under; withstand

   to sustain great provocation

2. to undergo (an injury, loss, etc); suffer

   to sustain a broken arm

3. to maintain or prolong

   to sustain a discussion

4. to support physically from below

5. to provide for or give support to, esp by supplying necessities

   to sustain one's family

   to sustain a charity

6. to keep up the vitality or courage of

7. to uphold or affirm the justice or validity of

   to sustain a decision

8. to establish the truth of; confirm

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noun

1. music the prolongation of a note, by playing technique or electronics

Usage

What are other ways to say sustain? To sustain a claim or an idea is to uphold it as valid, just or correct. How does sustain differ from the synonyms maintain, support, or uphold? Find out on Thesaurus.com. 

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• sustainment
  noun
• nonsustaining
  adjective
• sustainable
  adjective
• sustained
  adjective
• sustaining
  adjective
• unsustaining
  adjective
• sustainedly
  adverb
• sustainingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• sustaining
  present
• sustained
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• sustain
  simple
• sustains
  simple
• have sustained
  perfect
• has sustained
  perfect
• am sustaining
  progressive
• are sustaining
  progressive
• is sustaining
  progressive
• have been sustaining
  perfect progressive
• has been sustaining
  perfect progressive

Past

• sustained
  simple
• had sustained
  perfect
• was sustaining
  progressive
• were sustaining
  progressive
• had been sustaining
  perfect progressive

Future

• will sustain
  simple
• will have sustained
  perfect
• will be sustaining
  progressive
• will have been sustaining
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of sustain

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English suste(i)nen, from Anglo-French sustenir, Old French, from Latin sustinēre “to uphold,” equivalent to sus- sus- + -tinēre, combining form of tenēre “to hold”

Explanation

Sustain means to support something or keep it going. If you get hungry in the mid-afternoon, you might try snacking to sustain your energy through dinner. Beams and rafters sustain a roof — they keep it up. If you sustain a conversation over the course of hours, you keep it going during that time. If you sustain an injury, it means you are injured. If you sustain an interest in what you're studying, it means that you're just as excited about the subject after studying as you are when you began.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sustain sustains sustained sustaining

“Assuming a stable volume environment, unit pricing gains should sustain Napier Port’s mid-teens Ebitda growth in FY26 through FY27,” analyst Andy Bowley says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

"We need more funds just to sustain these things," Singh said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026

However, Naji said as the market shifts focus to how long Micron can sustain its pricing power and maintain higher margins, he sees opportunities for its shares to go higher.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026

“It’s helping all Californians and nature thrive together: How do we protect this globally renowned biodiversity, and how do we protect the natural systems that sustain us.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026

I was so fully aware that only serious moods and occupations were acceptable, that in his presence every effort to sustain or follow any other became vain: I fell under a freezing spell.

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë

By that standard, a conflict that keeps going and sustains higher energy prices is the kind of development that would shape their thinking.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

Currently the resurgence is fuelled locally by anger over foreign trawlers which overfish in Somali waters, damaging the fishing industry that sustains communities in Puntland.

From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026

In Chandler and Pierre, “Lanterns” has an extraordinary pairing that sustains enough frustration, humor, passion and regret to keep us rapt through the episodes provided for review.

From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026

He added that the community, too, “is engaged to ensure a project that honors the past, respects the present, and sustains our future.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

That which sustains the universe beyond thought and language, and that which is at the core of us and struggles for expression, is the same thing.

From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel

While the flow of crude oil is nearly back to pre-war levels the price remains above $100 a barrel, and sustained high oil prices have had a knock-on effect for diesel and gasoline.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

BASTIAN: I don’t know what the next year holds, but if we see today’s fuel prices on a sustained basis, you will see fallout of some variety.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

Unless a test indicates the very rare but serious Cushing’s syndrome—identified by sustained high cortisol levels—she won’t necessarily need to do anything with the results they show her.

From Slate ● Oct. 9, 2026

Kessler, the Lakers’ big acquisition at center from the Utah Jazz, has been nursing a finger injury he sustained after hitting the backboard during practice.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

They are sustained by the ancient institutions of religion, which are so powerful and of such a quality that they keep their princes in power no matter how they act and live their lives.

From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli

Three buildings have also been yellow-tagged ahead of Rachel’s arrival after sustaining damage from Hurricane Marie.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

D2 and D3 can both contribute to vitamin D status, but they are not necessarily metabolically interchangeable, and D3 appears to have an advantage when the goal is raising and sustaining vitamin D levels.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026

The 19th Century building has not been used for worship since 2008 and fell into disrepair after sustaining extensive fire damage two years later.

From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026

So, adding ‘The Reason’ and ‘Is This Love’ into the set was a big thing and letting it dedicate to love that is sustaining and getting through it, the highs and the lows,” she says.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026

“What we going to do?” he repeated at last; and felt that the sustaining life had gone out of him.

From "Go Tell It on the Mountain" by James Baldwin

Related Words

• assist
• bolster
• buoy
• continue
• defend
• help
• nurse
• preserve
• save