maintain
Americanverb (used with object)
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to keep in existence or continuance; preserve; retain.
to maintain good relations with neighboring countries.
- Antonyms:
- discontinue
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to keep in an appropriate condition, operation, or force; keep unimpaired.
to maintain order; to maintain public highways.
- Synonyms:
- keep up
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to keep in a specified state, position, etc..
to maintain a correct posture; to maintain good health.
-
He maintained that the country was going downhill.
- Synonyms:
- asseverate
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to support in speech or argument, as a statement or proposition.
- Antonyms:
- contradict
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to keep or hold against attack.
to maintain one's ground.
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to provide for the upkeep or support of; carry the expenses of.
to maintain a family.
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to sustain or support.
not enough water to maintain life.
verb
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to continue or retain; keep in existence
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to keep in proper or good condition
to maintain a building
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to support a style of living
the money maintained us for a month
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(takes a clause as object) to state or assert
he maintained that Talbot was wrong
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to defend against contradiction; uphold
she maintained her innocence
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to defend against physical attack
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
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maintainabilitynoun
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maintainernoun
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premaintainverb (used with object)
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undermaintainverb (used with object)
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maintainableadjective
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self-maintainedadjective
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self-maintainingadjective
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undermaintainedadjective
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unmaintainableadjective
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unmaintainedadjective
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well-maintainedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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maintainsimple
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maintainssimple
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have maintainedperfect
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has maintainedperfect
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am maintainingprogressive
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are maintainingprogressive
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is maintainingprogressive
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have been maintainingperfect progressive
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has been maintainingperfect progressive
Past
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maintainedsimple
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had maintainedperfect
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was maintainingprogressive
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were maintainingprogressive
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had been maintainingperfect progressive
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.
Vocabulary lists containing maintain
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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:
Or will your father maintain ownership of this property and allow you to live there?
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
That, together with continued resilience in exports and industrial production, suggests the central bank can maintain a measured monetary-policy approach while relying on targeted fiscal support to bolster growth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
On the website and in fliers sent to residents, the city says it spends $1.5 million a year to maintain the parks and that taxpayers are effectively subsidizing low land rents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
Tuchel selected similar profiles to maintain the squad's style, banking on nothing but plan A working – something which ultimately did not happen.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
How does it maintain the constancy that makes us discernibly similar, and the variation that makes us discernibly different?
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
“Obviously, Umberto holds Journalism himself in the highest regard and maintains an incredible rapport with the horse,” Wellman said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
Kenanga maintains an overweight rating on Malaysia’s oil and gas sector.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
And some more trust would be a good thing for a court that maintains “bafflingly unnecessary obstacles” to keep the public out of its business.
From Slate ● Jul. 15, 2026
It maintains Andriesz's employment was terminated after he refused to follow medical advice, declined to perform essential job duties, rejected reasonable accommodation, and ultimately abandoned his role.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 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
It’s unclear how thoroughly the boat, which was documented in Stockton, was maintained or inspected before this week’s voyage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
At some point, Anna persuaded Max to plead guilty even though he maintained his innocence.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
Japan's parliament tweaked the imperial succession law on Friday but maintained the bar on women emperors -- despite surveys suggesting wide public support for the idea.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
Adeyemi has maintained his innocence in interviews with local media.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
It was taught in school: how the monsters had maintained power for such a long time; how the angels had removed them, making Lucille what it is today.
From "Pet" by Akwaeke Emezi
Separate from the aid tent, protests at the facility persist, with a grassroots group of activists maintaining a mutual aid table of their own near the detention center.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
He added that Iran's national security depended on maintaining what he described as "Iranian arrangements" in the Strait of Hormuz.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
"If there are activities you never do, the brain -- which works by saving energy -- won't go to the trouble of maintaining connections that aren't being used."
From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026
So far, he said, Xi has played along with that lesson—giving Putin room, maintaining the appearances of equality in public, even as the underlying reality has shifted decisively in China’s favor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Next, drop the “Icka Backa” section, and recite only the “my mother” section, while maintaining the steady beat clap throughout.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
