sustain

[səˈsteɪn]

/[səˈsteɪn]/ verb

The verdict

“sustain” is uncommon German (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency German
7
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - halten, das Gewicht von etwas tragen

Corpus desk

Index DE-sustain · sustain · German

sustain · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "S" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for sustain
PropertyValue
Headwordsustain
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[səˈsteɪn]
Letters7
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „sustain“ im Deutschen

sustainliegt außerhalb der 100.000 häufigsten deutschen Wörter, im Langschwanz technischer, archaischer oder seltener Formen, genau dort, wo Schreibzweifeln zuschlagen.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

sustain is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed [səˈsteɪn]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for sustain, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct German form is sustain, spelled S-U-S-T-A-I-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    halten, das Gewicht von etwas tragen
  2. 2
    helfen, unterstützen
  3. 3
    erhalten, ernähren

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how sustain appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. That old chair won't sustain your weight.
  2. I want to sustain you.

Synonyms

bearsupportassistestablish

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "sustain"?
"sustain" is spelled S-U-S-T-A-I-N. The IPA pronunciation is [səˈsteɪn].
What does "sustain" mean?
As a verb, "sustain" means: halten, das Gewicht von etwas tragen
How do you pronounce "sustain"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sustain" is [səˈsteɪn]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "sustain" come from?
"sustain" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list