Maintain and Refrain

Maintain

Maintain verb - To keep in good condition.

Refrain and maintain are semantically related. In some cases you can use "Refrain" instead a verb "Maintain".

Refrain

Refrain verb - Resist doing something.

Maintain and refrain are semantically related. Sometimes you can use "Maintain" instead a verb "Refrain".

Nearby Words: refrained, refraining

Common collocations

sense maintain sense refrain sense
form maintain form refrain form
identities maintain identities refrain identities

Both words in one sentence

  • Also while restraining orders in TV usually require the person to maintain a minimum distance from another, in reality restraining orders usually order the person to refrain from contacting, harassing, following or stalking the other person, something that often doesn't deter a determined stalker.
  • Webcomic / Darths & Droids No longer applies during the Episode IV campaign and onwards, wherein Sally is a couple of years older and a bit more of a smart mouth, though they still refrain from using any of the harsher words in an effort to maintain the comic's PG rating.
Cite this Source
Refrain and Maintain. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/maintain/refrain
Maintain & Refrain. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/maintain/refrain>.
Refrain or Maintain. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/maintain/refrain.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "maintain" and "refrain" have occurred on timeline