Meaning & use
Retained
Last updated
Kept possession of, continued to have, or held in place rather than losing or giving up.
See it in a sentence
Despite the merger, the company retained most of its original staff.
She retained a clear memory of her childhood home even decades later.
A note on using this word
In law, 'retained' also describes hiring a lawyer in advance, as in 'retained counsel'.
Words with a similar meaning
keptpreserved
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
lostrelinquished
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