sustain
Usage
What are other ways to say sustain?
To sustain, a rather elevated word, suggests completeness and adequacy in supporting: The court sustained his claim. To support is to hold up or add strength to, literally or figuratively: The columns support the roof. To maintain is to support so as to preserve intact: to maintain an attitude of defiance. Uphold applies especially to supporting or backing another, as in a statement, opinion, or belief: to uphold the rights of a minority.
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.
Without that financial cushion, Tehran would find it much harder to sustain the war and drag out talks to end it.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026
Whether it’s enough to sustain Apple through the AI era is the $4 trillion question.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 21, 2026
At a time when few museums had contemporary art departments — “you couldn’t write a dissertation on a living artist,” Schaffner notes — Harris Norton funded the scaffolding that would sustain the artists she collected.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 21, 2026
AST SpaceMobile, which is working to develop a space-based cellular broadband network, said in a statement that "the altitude is too low to sustain operations."
From Barron's • Apr. 20, 2026
The phytoplankton, microscopic plants that float near the surface of water, had begun to remodel the lake into an environment that could once again sustain larger life.
From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone
Vocabulary lists containing sustain
List 2
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Mother's Day Words: What Mothers Do
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"Joyas Voladoras" by Brian Doyle
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