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

"Contact is still part of the game, we still maintain the high threshold," Webb added.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

They can also connect people with programs and other resources that can make it easier to begin healthy changes and maintain them over time.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026

The Levys and Heiser all maintain that there was something about being in California that gave them the creative space to launch their publishing houses.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

“He had to keep the army together and maintain support from the people and Congress.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

“We will be observing you to ensure that you maintain the standard.”

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

Fox also maintains a Facebook page where he goes by Joshua Luvv and self-identifies as a “digital creator.”

From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026

Meta doesn't deny that some users, including teens, have negative experiences on its two core apps, but the company maintains it created features to reduce those risks.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

Harvey maintains that open-weight models make it practical to run agents continuously across every matter in a cost-effective way.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

Barclays maintains its Brent crude oil forecast of $96.00 per barrel for 2026.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

A Dinka man who follows these rules and maintains the values he learned as a boy can grow up to be a great leader, like my great-uncle.

From "Lost Boy, Lost Girl" by John Bul Dau

She has always maintained it was an accident.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

Instead, Essayli’s office has maintained that he can prosecute and supervise cases as first assistant.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

So could brain organoids grown and maintained in a lab hypothetically outlive humans?

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

“This extraordinary European estate has been maintained in immaculate condition and is surrounded by impeccably landscaped grounds,” Mills said.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026

“I am nothing if not loyal. You have maintained yours to me. Never speaking ill against me. You may have your true tongue back.”

From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton

However, maintaining that heightened state of readiness may also increase the chance of immune "friendly fire," in which the body mistakenly attacks its own healthy tissues and triggers autoimmune disease.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026

And developing, producing and maintaining the F-35 is anticipated to require $2 trillion, making it the DOD’s most expensive weapon system in history, according to the GAO.

From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026

Deere raised the low end of its net income outlook to $4.75 billion while maintaining the high end at $5 billion.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

“State Farm Mutual is able to provide value directly to our customers while maintaining financial strength to keep our promises in the future,” said State Farm President and Chief Executive Jon Farney in a statement.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

I say, therefore, that in completely new principalities, where there is a new prince, greater or lesser difficulty in maintaining them exists according to the greater or lesser virtue of the person who acquires them.

From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli

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