sustained

1. 1
   adjective

   Kept up continuously at a steady level over a period of time.

   Recovery will require a sustained commitment from the whole staff.

   The region has enjoyed sustained economic expansion for a decade.

   Similarcontinuous, steady, constant, prolonged, persistent

   Oppositeintermittent, sporadic, brief

   Note

   Here the participle has become a true adjective. The test is that it grades: an effort can be more sustained, and a campaign can be the most sustained of its kind. Science leans on it in sustained release, meaning a substance let out slowly over time rather than all at once. Charles T. Ambrose writes of "slow sustained release systems" in American Scientist (2013).

2. 2
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of sustain.

   The company sustained heavy losses throughout the recession.

   He sustained his argument with careful reasoning under pressure.

   Note

   One regular -ed form does double duty. In they sustained losses it is the past tense, and in losses were sustained it is the passive participle. The verb's range carries over, so the word can mean suffered (sustained an injury), kept going (sustained the effort), or upheld, as in the ruling "objection sustained," where an objection is accepted as valid. Placed before a noun, it shades into the "kept up steadily" adjective.

3. 3
   adjective

   Kept sounding at a steady pitch, without breaking or fading, over a length of time.

   The organ produced a sustained chord that rang through the cathedral.

   Her violin gave a long, sustained note that silenced the room.

   Similarprolonged, long

   Oppositestaccato, short

   Note

   The musician's version of the "kept up" sense: what holds steady is the pitch, not merely the level. A singer or wind player carries it on the breath, and a string player carries it with an evenly drawn bow. An organ carries it through its own resonance. A sustained note lasts its full notated length, so one that slides off pitch or fades early has not earned the word.

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