Synonyms of sustains

sustains

verb

present tense third-person singular of sustain

1

as in nurtures

to supply with nourishment

a granola bar should sustain you long enough to last until lunch

Synonyms & Similar Words

• nurtures
• satisfies
• nourishes
• feeds
• satiates
• fills
• replenishes
• suckles
• fortifies
• strengthens
• caters
• sates
• cloys
• provisions
• surfeits
• boards
• nurses
• victuals

2

as in undergoes

to come to a knowledge of (something) by living through it

sustained serious injuries in the car crash

Synonyms & Similar Words

• undergoes
• experiences
• has
• endures
• sees
• feels
• knows
• suffers
• witnesses
• goes through
• receives
• tastes
• passes
• encounters
• accepts
• meets
• assimilates
• digests

3

as in endures

to put up with (something painful or difficult)

I won't sustain such insolence!

Synonyms & Similar Words

• endures
• tolerates
• stands
• accepts
• takes
• handles
• absorbs
• bears
• supports
• meets
• abides
• wears
• swallows
• stands for
• sticks out
• lives with
• brooks
• suffers
• lumps (it)
• countenances
• bides
• goes
• pockets
• stomachs
• allows
• sweats out
• hacks
• permits
• toughs it out
• respects
• acquiesces
• reconciles (to)
• yields (to)
• agrees (with or to)
• capitulates
• submits (to)
• consents (to)
• assents (to)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• refuses
• rejects
• dismisses
• declines
• opposes
• resists
• repudiates
• spurns
• avoids
• escapes
• turns down
• fights
• combats
• misses
• evades
• eludes
• bypasses
• contests
• circumvents
• dodges
• refrains (from)
• abstains (from)
• forbears

4

as in supports

to hold up or serve as a foundation for

that old chair won't sustain your weight

Synonyms & Similar Words

• supports
• carries
• bolsters
• stays
• upholds
• underpins
• undergirds
• bears
• underlies
• shores (up)
• buttresses
• braces
• steadies
• props (up)
• trusses

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of sustains

Ford is among the few filmmakers who succeeds in filming a stage performance with visual attention (a combination of duration and framing) that sustains literary continuity yet never recedes to mere home-video-like recording. — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 19 Aug. 2026

If Willis sustains an injury, a high draft pick also would be helpful. — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 15 Aug. 2026

Lê is interested in all the activity that fills a day, in its movement and sound, and attentive to the busy ecosystem that surrounds and sustains his principal characters. — Guy Lodge, Variety, 10 Aug. 2026

However, stocks of major infrastructure players, including Hewlett Packard, likely have more room to run as a boom in artificial intelligence data centers sustains a longer, but still cyclical, infrastructure upcycle, according to Morgan Stanley. — Liz Napolitano, CNBC, 10 Aug. 2026

Financial contributions sustain operations, institutional capital sustains legitimacy and legitimacy sustains international cooperation. — Ekramy El Zaghat, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2026

Certainly, if a position sustains damage, Tobin would never block off the idea of adding, and that’s in play every year. — Paul Dehner Jr, New York Times, 27 July 2026

The pacing sometimes goes slack, but even when the narrative starts wandering, Simple Town boasts a goofy magnetism that sustains the movie astonishingly well. — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 21 July 2026

At least this time, the voice of my people, deprived of their rights by the zombie state and the American government that sustains it, was heard. — Rafael Osío Cabrices, Time, 20 July 2026