augment

Synonym Chooser

How does the verb augment contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of augment are enlarge, increase, and multiply. While all these words mean "to make or become greater," augment implies addition to what is already well grown or well developed.

the inheritance augmented his fortune

When is it sensible to use enlarge instead of augment?

The words enlarge and augment can be used in similar contexts, but enlarge implies expansion or extension that makes greater in size or capacity.

enlarged the kitchen

When might increase be a better fit than augment?

In some situations, the words increase and augment are roughly equivalent. However, increase used intransitively implies progressive growth in size, amount, or intensity; used transitively it may imply simple not necessarily progressive addition.

his waistline increased with age
increased her landholdings

Where would multiply be a reasonable alternative to augment?

While in some cases nearly identical to augment, multiply implies increase in number by natural generation or by indefinite repetition of a process.

with each attempt the problems multiplied

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of augment Courtesy Deirdre Hall When reading women’s routine mammograms, radiologists are increasingly augmenting their eyes with artificial intelligence. Elizabeth Cohen, NBC news, 22 Oct. 2025 In industries like customer service or supply chain management, this could mean embedding AI into existing platforms to streamline workflows, augment human decision-making, or improve forecasting accuracy. Dave Smith, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2025 The pipeline project hatched by Phillips 66 and Kinder will carry fuels from as far away as the Midwest to augment supplies sent by refiners in Washington State and Asia. Bloomberg, Mercury News, 21 Oct. 2025 The skepticism surrounding Salesforce’s Agentforce, its platform with agentics and virtual robots to augment your business, is growing thinner after CEO Marc Benioff’s keynote to kick off the company’s annual Dreamforce conference. Jim Cramer, CNBC, 19 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for augment
Recent Examples of Synonyms for augment
Verb
  • Wild news in the Financial Times this morning, which reports that China has substantially increased energy subsidies for some of its largest data centers in a bid to bolster its position in the global AI race.
    Andrew Nusca, Fortune, 4 Nov. 2025
  • Rising prices for cars, parts and repairs needed, and medical bills have increased, driving up the price of insurance.
    NPR, NPR, 3 Nov. 2025
Verb
  • At the crux of those tensions are a gaping trade imbalance and efforts from the US to ensure its national security against an increasingly assertive China, including by expanding restrictions on China’s access to American high tech, like the advanced semiconductors needed to power AI.
    Betsy Klein, CNN Money, 30 Oct. 2025
  • Seeing as how the first tribe swap failed to shake anything up and gave us two more obvious telegraphed votes, the producers decided to blow it all up again and expand back to three tribes.
    Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • The open-source project has been used by millions of scientists in more than 190 countries, accelerating research into diseases previously considered intractable.
    Dave Smith, Fortune, 26 Oct. 2025
  • Southern China’s tropical to subtropical climate – with heavy rainfall, heat, and humidity – accelerates chemical weathering, while the region’s long history of tectonic and magmatic activity adds further erosion.
    Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 25 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • They have been used in therapy sessions to ease anxiety, and past studies have shown that interacting with pets can boost relaxation and influence hormone levels.
    Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Oct. 2025
  • The right tool can streamline conversations, keep everyone in sync, and boost productivity.
    Rebecca Lazar, Miami Herald, 31 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Augment.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/augment. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on augment

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