Meaning & use
hold steadfast
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Meaning
phraseidiom
to remain firm and not change your beliefs, decisions, or loyalty, even when it is difficult
Grammar: Often followed by 'to' or 'in': hold steadfast to your principles; hold steadfast in your faith.
Patterns
- hold steadfast to something
- hold steadfast in something
- hold steadfast
She held steadfast to her decision despite pressure from her family.
The organization held steadfast in its commitment to help refugees.
He held steadfast and refused to apologize for something he did not do.
Common combinations
- hold steadfast to your beliefs
- Even when others laughed, he held steadfast to his beliefs.
- hold steadfast in the face of criticism
- The scientist held steadfast in the face of criticism and continued her research.
- remain steadfast
- They remained steadfast in their support for the project.
- hold steadfast to a promise
- She held steadfast to her promise never to lie to her children.
Synonyms and how they differ
- stand firm
- More common in everyday speech and often used without 'to'; it emphasizes not moving or changing.
- remain loyal
- Focuses on loyalty to a person or group rather than on personal beliefs or decisions.
- persevere
- Means to keep trying despite difficulties; it does not necessarily involve loyalty or fixed beliefs.
Opposites
Word family
- steadfast adjective
- Firm and not changing; loyal.
- steadfastly adverb
- In a firm and loyal way.
- steadfastness noun
- The quality of being firm and loyal.
Commonly confused: hold steadfast or hold steady?
hold steadfast vs hold steady
'Hold steady' means to keep something physically still or to keep a situation stable; 'hold steadfast' is about beliefs or loyalty.
Practice
Despite the criticism, the mayor ______ steadfast to his plan to build a new park.
Choose one answer.
The fixed phrase is 'hold steadfast to something'. 'Remained steadfast' is also correct, but it does not take the object 'to his plan' in the same way; 'kept steadfast' and 'stood steadfast' are not standard collocations.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hold steadfast”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.