noun

retention

/rɪˈtenʃən/ · say it: rih·TEN·shun

keeping existing customers over time

In Business & Marketing

In more detail

1. (noun) the act of keeping or continuing to hold something

2. (noun) the ability to keep or remember information

3. (noun) the percentage of people who continue with a job or organization rather than leaving

Examples

1. The retention of heat in the building helps reduce energy costs.
2. Good retention of vocabulary is essential for language learning.
3. The company improved employee retention by offering better benefits.

How to use retention

Retention is used across professional and academic contexts to describe keeping something physical, maintaining information in memory, or measuring organizational stability through employee or customer continuity. It is more formal and systematic than synonyms like 'keeping', and implies active preservation or measurable rates. The word often appears in business metrics and psychology.

Common phrases

retention rate
customer retention
employee retention
retention of information
water retention
retention policy

Synonyms

keeping · preservation · maintaining · holding · memory

Opposites

loss · release · dismissal

Word family

retain · retentive · retentively · retentiveness

A common mistake

Learners sometimes confuse retention with 'retaining' as a verb or use it to mean 'memory' alone, forgetting its broader application to organizational metrics and percentages.

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