butte

noun

Definition of buttenext
as in mountain
a type of hill with a flat top and steep sides that is found in the southwestern U.S. The otherworldly sandstone buttes of Monument Valley, Arizona are well worth a visit.

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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 butte Situated on a butte at the gateway to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the 96,000-sq-ft (8,918-sq-m) library and museum structure practically blends into the rugged landscape. — Abhimanyu Ghoshal, New Atlas, 7 July 2026 Today, visitors can spot wildlife like bison, bighorn sheep, prairie dogs, and black-footed ferrets among the sharply eroded buttes. — Scott Bay, Travel + Leisure, 2 July 2026 The unique red rock buttes often show up in movies, calendars and magazines. — Staff, USA Today, 8 June 2026 The 244,000-acre park features a unique landscape of eroded buttes, pinnacles and spires, and contains one of the world’s richest fossil beds. — Lauren Schuster, Charlotte Observer, 4 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for butte
Recent Examples of Synonyms for butte
  1. mountain
  2. cliff
  3. mesa
  4. highland
  5. foothill
  6. plateau
Noun
  • The bear was also recently featured in Southern Living — for a few months each fall, a local mountain casts a shadow shaped like a bear onto the fall foliage below.
    — Eva Flowe, Charlotte Observer, 23 Oct. 2026
  • This innovation—the mass manufacture of ammonia, vastly more efficient than scraping guano off remote islands or grinding mountains of bison bones—removed the most critical nutrient bottleneck in global agriculture.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of mountain
Noun
  • The two lanes closest to the cliff remain closed, with traffic routed on the remaining two lanes, with one lane in each direction.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 24 Oct. 2026
  • The building, known in German as the Kehlsteinhaus, is located on a cliff 1,834 meters (6,017 feet) above sea level.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of cliff
Noun
  • The scenery today, red rocks and flat mesas, could pass for Utah and our hike feels like a geologic safari with Nouri pointing out rock formations that resemble elephants and camels.
    — Jen Murphy, Condé Nast Traveler, 15 Oct. 2026
  • There is camping in the large campground near the entrance, but the only way to stay on the mesa is the Far View Lodge, with hotel-style rooms and a full-service restaurant.
    — R. Scott Rappold, Denver Post, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of mesa
Noun
  • Even if tourism areas are operating as usual, communities near the fires in the mountain highlands are directly affected.
    — Jessica Puckett, Condé Nast Traveler, 14 Oct. 2026
  • After posting a picture on a random rock in the Turkish highlands on Instagram, Salah has transformed the spot into a tourist attraction, with droves of fans making the pilgrimage.
    — Justin Birnbaum, Sportico.com, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of highland
Noun
  • Temperatures begin a cooling trend on Friday, with Moderate HeatRisk in the foothill thermal belts and in Sacramento; Minor HeatRisk elsewhere.
    — CA Weather Bot, Sacbee.com, 7 Oct. 2026
  • But in Southern California’s wealthy foothill enclaves, event promoters are regularly transforming these types of regal estates into weekend party houses filled with young people who are willing to pay to enter.
    — Jazmin Alvarado, Los Angeles Times, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of foothill
Noun
  • China is no stranger to powerful quakes, especially in southwestern parts of the country where the Eurasian tectonic plate meets the Indian plate, a dramatic collision that creates the mighty Himalayas and the vast Tibetan plateau.
    — Sophie Tanno, CNN Money, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Scott and Stauring founded the humanitarian group iACT largely to respond to the crisis in Darfur, a semi-desert plateau in western Sudan that has known nothing but war this century.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of plateau

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Cite this Entry

“Butte.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/butte. Accessed 25 Oct. 2026.

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