Showing results for "sustained"

• past tense form of sustain.
• past participle of sustain.

sustained

American  

[suh-steynd] / səˈsteɪnd /

adjective

1. kept in process or continued over time; continuous.

   National budgets need to reflect a sustained commitment to children's positive development, strong families, and caring communities.

2. (of an injury, cost, etc.) borne, experienced, or suffered.

   Homeowner’s insurance is not available to cover sustained losses from a radiological accident.

3. upheld or confirmed as valid.

   Nothing smacks more of courtroom defeat than ending a cross-examination on a sustained objection.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of sustain.

Other Word Forms

• nonsustained
  adjective
• presustained
  adjective
• unsustained
  adjective
• well-sustained
  adjective
• sustainedly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of sustained

sustain ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Explanation

Something that's sustained is held or maintained for a long time, keeping its strength or level consistent and unbroken. A singer's sustained note goes on and on, and a judge's sustained ruling continues to be upheld. The adjective sustained, which describes something that goes on uninterrupted for a long time, comes from the Latin word sustinere, "to hold up, support, or endure." Something sustained can be either good or bad: a sustained conflict is never good, but a sustained peace is something to be fought for.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sustained

Now a Category 4 hurricane and moving northwest with sustained winds of about 155 mph, Genevieve is expected to generate up to 11-foot swells by Wednesday afternoon along beaches that face south and southwest.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026

Group revenue increased six percent to $15.4 billion in the quarter, thanks to sustained strong demand for its cancer and rare disease medicines.

From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026

Helima Croft, head of global commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets, said sustained Houthi attacks could materially reduce Red Sea oil flows and “shift the sentiment of ‘the market always finds a workaround’ camp.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

Yet oil prices back near $100 a barrel still aren’t near $138 — the level that economists in March said would put the global economy in jeopardy of recession if sustained for three weeks.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026

The observing notebooks of Percival Lowell reflect a sustained effort at the telescope over many years.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

Related Words

• constant
• continued
• continuous
• uninterrupted