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.
See Examples For:
Actors, musicians and performers train to inhabit perspectives not their own, to remain present through discomfort, and to sustain attention across time.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026
Bohm’s defense team repeatedly has argued that there is inadequate evidence to sustain murder charges against him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Even if you can only put away a little bit each year, it will compound and this money will help you sustain your lifestyle in retirement.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
The Central Reserve Police Force didn't respond to our questions about the use of pellet guns and the injuries protesters appeared to sustain.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Thus, when the human population became sufficiently large and concentrated, we reached the stage in our history at which we could at last evolve and sustain crowd diseases confined to our own species.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Once authorized, the facility will be allowed to load nuclear fuel and begin start-up testing to achieve first criticality—the point at which a reactor sustains a controlled nuclear chain reaction.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
“We are bound to this thing… It sustains us.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
“Snowflake and Datadog have seen a reacceleration of revenue from AI. And so we have to see if that sustains, but that’s the best sign you could hope for,” he says.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 2, 2026
But unlike the tradwife with her gaggle of youngsters underfoot, the orangutan mother sustains this intense caretaking by spacing her kids seven or so years apart.
From Slate ● May 10, 2026
That which sustains the universe beyond thought and language, and that which is at the core of us and struggles for expression, is the same thing.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
Any hope Infantino might have had of tiptoeing away from the scene of his World Cup private-investment wreckage having sustained only minor damage to his reputation has been obliterated.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
Having one major backer in perpetuity hadn’t been the original plan, CZI said, but rather a model that “could be sustained through primarily public investment.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026
Despite its extreme strength, the CoAl material also sustained 15% of plastic strain under compression at room temperature.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 31, 2026
The team also said he would undergo an MRI exam to “better understand the severity of the injuries sustained from the scooter accident.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
Children who get sustained musical education have long been assumed to reap educational benefits in areas other than music.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
They practice sustaining tension, navigating uncertainty and responding in real-time to others.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026
A Virgin Atlantic engineer has died nearly a month after sustaining injuries while carrying out maintenance work on a commercial airplane at Heathrow Airport.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
"The two sides underscored the importance of maintaining peace, security, and stability in the region, reducing the risk of miscalculation, and sustaining dialogue on matters of mutual concern," the statement read.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
Technologies developed for sustaining life on Mars, including desiccation-resistant crops and efficient closed-loop life support systems, could improve sustainability on Earth.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 17, 2026
The only sustaining support possible for the human spirit, the one pure unsullied good men can hope to attain, is heroism; and heroism depends on lost causes.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
Vocabulary lists containing sustain
List 2
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"Joyas Voladoras" by Brian Doyle
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Mother's Day Words: What Mothers Do
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