sustenance
Americannoun
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means of sustaining or supporting life or health; nourishment, especially food and drink.
The small farm provided sustenance for the family of four during tough times.
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one's means of livelihood.
Buying handmade cloth from weavers ensures their sustenance.
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something that sustains or comforts, especially a source of spiritual support.
He is strong and peaceful and confident in the love of Jesus Christ, which is his sustenance right now.
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the process of sustaining.
Critical journalism has played an invaluable role in the sustenance of democratic governance in Nigeria.
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the state of being sustained.
Forest-clearing technology may be viewed as a useful tool contributing to human sustenance and self-sufficiency.
noun
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means of sustaining health or life; nourishment
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means of maintenance; livelihood
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Also: sustention. the act or process of sustaining or the quality of being sustained
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sustenance
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English sustenaunce, sustinaunce, from Anglo-French sustenance, from Old French sostenance; see origin at sustain, -ance
Explanation
Sustenance comes from the word sustain, which means to continue. Sustenance is food or drink that allows you to continue to be alive. For many, prayer is a source of spiritual sustenance. If your chief source of sustenance is candy, you are going to get sick, but you will have a good time while it lasts. In much of the world, rice and beans provide sustenance to human beings. In the US, Native Americans taught Europeans how to grow corn, which turned into a major source of sustenance for their population.
Vocabulary lists containing sustenance
The Hunger Games
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A Thousand Splendid Suns
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Beowulf: A New Telling
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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.
Such extremes can also spur desperate pocket gophers and antelope squirrels to strip off their outer layer of bark for sustenance, which can be fatal to the trees.
From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026
Pro tip: If you’re driving, leave yourself some snacks that won’t melt and some waters in the car so you have some sustenance if you do get stuck.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026
Malthus argued that “the power of population is indefinitely greater than the power of the earth to produce sustenance for man.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 17, 2026
Floreana's native species, Chelonoidis niger niger, was driven to extinction in the 1840s by sailors who took thousands from the island for sustenance during long voyages.
From BBC • Feb. 21, 2026
I do not know what life will be like, separated from a faction—it feels disengaged, like a leaf divided from the tree that gives it sustenance.
From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth
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.
