BEEFED (UP) Synonyms: 80 Similar and Opposite Words

beefed (up)

verb

past tense of beef (up)

as in strengthened

to increase the ability of (as a muscle) to exert physical force beefed up the walls with iron bars

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in intensified

to make markedly greater in measure or degree will beef up security for the next few days while the president is in town

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for beefed (up)

Verb

Their partnerships across Jewish, Asian American, immigrant, and other communities supported Sam Sutton’s historic election as New York’s first Sephardic Jewish state senator and strengthened the coalition behind our victories this week.

— Joey Saban, New York Daily News, 6 Nov. 2026
Congressional oversight has strengthened the democratic system at many points.

— Gibbs Knotts, The Conversation, 4 Nov. 2026

Definition of strengthened

Verb

The Middle East is not the only part of the world where threats to the Internet’s undersea backbone have intensified.

— Jeremy Hsu, ArsTechnica, 6 Nov. 2026
Two years later, as clashes between the South Vietnamese government and protesters intensified, Morgenthau urged the United States to get out.

— David Sacks, Foreign Affairs, 6 Nov. 2026

Definition of intensified

Verb

Earlier this year, a report from The New York Times indicating Meta was working on facial recognition for its glasses heightened privacy concerns about the technology.

— Lisa Eadicicco, CNN Money, 12 Nov. 2026
The debate over the ICE agreement comes as federal immigration enforcement operations have heightened anxieties in Doral, a city with a large immigrant population.

— Verónica Egui Brito, Miami Herald, 11 Nov. 2026

Definition of heightened

Verb

Election nonprofits have stepped up to try to fill the gap, and states, with CISA’s help, have enhanced their own cyber defenses.

— Jen Fifield, ProPublica, 2 Nov. 2026
But this isn't exactly what the surface of the planet would look like through our eyes; the image is color-enhanced.

— Chelsea Gohd, Space.com, 2 Nov. 2026

Definition of enhanced

Verb

In addition, CrowdStrike has deepened its partnership with Nvidia in 2026, collaborating on real-time AI security agents that aim to protect data centers and cloud infrastructure.

— Liz Napolitano, CNBC, 2 Nov. 2026
El Sayed’s campaign asked Stevens to stay away from his remaining campaign events on Saturday as the two deepened their feud just days ahead of the toss-up Senate race.

— Molly Parks, The Washington Examiner, 1 Nov. 2026

Definition of deepened

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.

Browse Nearby Words

beefed

beefed (up)

beefing

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Beefed (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/beefed%20%28up%29. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of beefed (up)

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

boilerplate

Popular in Grammar & Usage

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

31 Useful Rhetorical Devices

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Popular in Wordplay

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Longest Long Words List

The Words of the Week - Nov. 13

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

Popular

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes