Maintain
Maintain verb - To keep in good condition.
Usage example: he repairs and maintains antique cars as a hobby
Ruin
Ruin verb - To cause to lose one's fortune and become unable to pay one's debts.
Common collocations
| friendship | maintain friendship | ruin friendship |
| sense | maintain sense | ruin sense |
| life | maintain life | ruin life |
| balance | maintain balance | ruin balance |
| Other words: image, body, reputation, relationship, cover, atmosphere, world, health, looks, relationships, timeline. | ||
Both words in one sentence
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Cute and Psycho: Midori can somehow maintain an extremely charming appearance while at the same time plotting ruin for most of the main cast.
Source: Manga / Arisa - Politeness Judo: When called to Dumbledore's office for hospitalizing several students, Jen makes sure to maintain an air of civility so her attitude doesn't ruin her defense.
Source: Fanfic / Princess of the Blacks - They need to be as objective as possible in their assessments not just to gain and maintain credibility in their audience's eyes, but also because it can completely overshadow and ruin the review itself as a work.
Source: Bias Steamroller
Cite this Source
Ruin and Maintain. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/maintain/ruin
Maintain & Ruin. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/maintain/ruin>.
Ruin or Maintain. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/maintain/ruin.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "maintain" and "ruin" have occurred on timeline