Thesaurus.com
Dictionary.com
Definitions

mainstay

[mayn-stay] / ˈmeɪnˌsteɪ /


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:

The 1,300-word-plus screed was triggered by Friday’s episode of “Real Time With Bill Maher,” a mainstay on HBO since 2003.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026

Most recently, the star of “The West Wing” has been a mainstay on Fox’s campy disaster series “9-1-1.”

From Salon ● Oct. 18, 2026

Just when critics thought that playing loud characters was his mainstay, he proved them wrong by delivering a mesmerising performance in Khamoshi as a person who could not hear or speak.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

Ishan Kishan was India's mainstay with a crafted 80 not out, including five sixes.

From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026

Owners no longer had the economic clout of being a mainstay of the economy.

From "Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science" by Marc Aronson

Many of Halloween’s biggest mainstays started much more modestly—as ideas from entrepreneurs and small businesses that caught on, spread and eventually became traditions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026

When I reported on the business of Starbucks last year, analysts pointed to a major shift happening in the drinks market: concept-forward drinks are outperforming other traditional mainstays in the landscape.

From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026

The film is directed by Jon Erwin, one of the in-house Angel Studios mainstays, who also helmed “Jesus Revolution,” “I Still Believe” and “I Can Only Imagine.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026

Kobliner went through three mainstays from her book with MarketWatch to show that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

From MarketWatch ● May 14, 2026

By contrast, swine, mainstays of European agriculture, transmit anthrax, brucellosis, leptospirosis, trichinosis, and tuberculosis.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann


Vocabulary lists containing mainstay

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 14,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training