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.

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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

The US is considering ways to maintain some security support in both Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan after the troop withdrawal, the sources said.

From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026

"Simply continuing to... maintain commercial channels and provide alternative payment mechanisms can substantially reduce the effectiveness of economic isolation," said Lezhava.

From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026

This policy would not ban shell companies outright, but it would make them expensive to maintain.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026

Many wild places historically depended on fires to maintain their ecosystems, and as people have continued to build farther into those places, they have, with great success, suppressed those blazes, Frievalt said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

“Yes, I am sorry to have to maintain it, but we are sure.”

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin

Maybank maintains a buy rating on the stock with a target price of 9.41 ringgit.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

"I don't want to give too much away but Carl maintains his standard of being pretty grumpy," he says as we sit at the kitchen table in his flat.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

But he said that Evidence Room is still alive and that he maintains relationships with the community of artists who have been part of the company, which was established in 1995.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

DBS maintains its buy rating and target price of 45.00 Hong Kong dollars.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

The doctors claim Frederick retains no memories, that his brain maintains only basic functions, but there are moments when she wonders.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

Morocco has maintained a longstanding claim to the territories, which it has reiterated in recent weeks.

From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026

The researchers said this reflects the high quality standards maintained by the UK food industry.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026

The BOJ maintained its policy rate at 1% at its previous meeting in July as policymakers examined the effects of its previous hike in June.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

Cantor has maintained its price target of $350 for Nvidia.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026

He maintained his calm demeanor, but his voice held a hint of venom.

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros

The company is also diversifying its earnings base to reduce reliance on the airline business, while maintaining a sustainable cash-flow position, he says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

They also play an important role in maintaining normal tissue function, Dixit adds.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 26, 2026

His former lawyer is now holding the settlement funds, maintaining that he is entitled to attorney’s fees.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026

Iger rejected the notion that he experienced “buyer’s remorse,” maintaining on a November 2024 call with analysts that the deal was made “through the lens of streaming.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026

All in all, it was a long-standing and uneasy truce where both sides complained while maintaining a grudging tolerance.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

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