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Synonyms

maintain

American

[mayn-tayn] / 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

Tom Drury returns to the world of Grouse County, whose denizens are getting older yet still maintain their human idiosyncrasies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026

“This will help maintain the integrity of the bond process as the district moves forward with new construction projects,” McKeever said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2026

"Sometimes we have to curtail certain solar power plants to maintain the stability of the system. That is why some people have the perception that the government is not encouraging solar power," Karunathilaka said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 25, 2026

This can make it difficult to maintain balance, adjust body position, and steer in the intended direction.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 24, 2026

“Yes, but how else are we going to open up and maintain all these extra rooms? We’ll need the space, we can’t go stacking family up three to a room like a tenement.”

From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland

He’s the author of “Pathways,” a 2023 book of photographs and maintains a website focused on his work.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026

Holmes, meanwhile, maintains that money has never been her primary motivation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026

Dan Mackta, managing director at Qobuz, an online music platform that maintains a strict human-first approach to curation, agrees the technology "is never going to want to throw a curve ball at you".

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026

It still maintains its reputation as a discreet meeting place, allowing customers to live and let dine.

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026

A coffee bar is set off to the side, below a rustic-looking sign that says: Caffeine maintains my sunny personality.

From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day

For years, Netanyahu maintained that the foundations of Israel's security rested on military strength but he also gained a reputation for caution.

From Barron's ● Oct. 27, 2026

The Real Madrid manager celebrated Kylian Mbappe's late winner at Barcelona on Sunday with a trademark knee slide, as he maintained his midas touch over their bitter rivals.

From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026

The records maintained across successive dynasties eventually became some of the world's most valuable historical sources for studying ancient eclipses.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 26, 2026

Russia has long maintained a presence on the archipelago, which became sovereign Norwegian territory a century ago but is governed by a treaty that allows almost any country to do business there.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026

One couldn’t rely, he maintained, on experience in any of its many forms.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

"You've got no stored iron but you're maintaining your haemoglobin. That's the big disconnect," said consultant haematologist Dr Drew Provan.

From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026

It has recently broken out peak revenue estimates for sone-ve of $3 billion to $5 billion, while maintaining its peak-sales guidance of more than $5 billion for the rest of the portfolio.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026

Shared control lines could offer a more practical way to expand these systems while maintaining the precision needed for quantum calculations.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 26, 2026

"For Kim Jong Un, maintaining the status quo is the best option right now."

From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026

He refused to sell the beasts to the rendering factories, maintaining that they deserved something of a retirement for their years of loyalty.

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam

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