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

“Our recommendation changes reflect a growing confidence in QBE’s ability to navigate successfully a tricky global commercial insurance pricing environment and to maintain a reasonable earnings growth profile,” the note says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

“These provisions will help policyholders maintain coverage and better understand an insurers decision to nonrenew the policy,” said Mark Sektnan, vice president of state government relations, in a statement.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026

Helping people with diabetes maintain a good quality of life is an important part of treatment.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 28, 2026

Orders for three floating dry docks, worth £6bn, to maintain the Royal Navy's nuclear-powered submarine fleet at Faslane will go to a UK-based shipbuilder, the chancellor has confirmed.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

But they do not know how, and are unable, to maintain their position.

From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli

In contrast, the title track is one of the few on the recording that maintains the same mood throughout, one that makes the Swiss city sound like a fascinating place in which to wander.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

Lula, a veteran and pragmatic leader, maintains normal ties with the right-wing leaders of Chile, Bolivia, and Paraguay.

From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026

A relentless campaigner, he maintains a near-constant presence on pro-government television channels, embracing locals in tiny rural villages and chastising his critics during lengthy news conferences.

From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026

The article maintains that Latino men are a decisive constituency whose votes could determine congressional and local races.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 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

As armed guards maintained a cordon around a nearby village, Washington questioned the decision to release on bail five men arrested near the Royal Air Force Fairford base in southwest England.

From Barron's ● Sep. 29, 2026

The future queen was brought up under strict rules and the constant surveillance maintained by her widowed mother’s adviser, John Conroy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

Weinstein said he has “remorse for Miriam Haley’s pain,” but maintained that he’s innocent.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

However, when Ortega isn’t traveling for work, she has long maintained ties to the California desert community where she grew up.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026

About her personal life Mrs. Richardson could find very little, only a brief mention that she had maintained an apartment on the Upper East Side.

From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng

“We remain committed to maintaining order in the currency market.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

Godspeed bringing your mother’s estate to a conclusion, and maintaining those enviably strong family ties.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 27, 2026

Sleep plays a critical role in functions such as memory consolidation and maintaining mental performance the following day.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026

“Nathan quoted Wilson $110,000 for an untraceable site with a satellite, ghost server, ghost hosting, full build, maintaining, and full algorithmic push across all platforms ... for 3 months,” the filing alleges.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2026

They were still moving sideways, both of them, in that perfect circle, maintaining the same distance from each other, and for Harry no face existed but Voldemort’s.

From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling

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