buttes

noun

plural of butte
as in cliffs
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 buttes Each summer, runners carry prayers more than 50 miles from the town of Bluff, Utah, to the high country below the buttes, and the White Mesa Ute community beside the monument holds its Bear Dance each year. — Kerri J. Malloy, The Conversation, 23 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 From the layer-cake buttes of Badlands National Park to the winding canyons of the Black Hills, this part of South Dakota is legendary. — Ashlea Halpern, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 July 2026 The unique red rock buttes often show up in movies, calendars and magazines. — Staff, USA Today, 8 June 2026 Towering buttes shoot out of waving prairie grasses. — Julia Sayers Gokhale, Midwest Living, 1 June 2026 The kitchen turns out whimsical bar food, like Mexican pizza, and wall art depicts the buttes and cacti of the Seussian desert. — Chris Malloy, Bon Appetit Magazine, 14 Apr. 2026 Alaska runs along a ridge just outside of Arches National Park, offering long-range views of the park’s towers and buttes across the Salt Valley. — Graham Averill, Outside, 28 Mar. 2026 As Arizona yielded to New Mexico, the dirt seemed to get redder and the ridges rose to form buttes. — Tribune News Service, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for buttes
  1. cliffs
  2. mountains
  3. mesas
  4. highlands
  5. peaks
Noun
  • People have driven to the edges of cliffs and even into lakes.
    — Shayla Love, New Yorker, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Pharma’s previous mega-merger wave was largely a response to patent cliffs and weak pipeline replacement, with companies relying on cost cuts to protect earnings.
    — Elsa Ohlen, CNBC, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of cliffs
Noun
  • Gandaki, one of the Himalayan country's seven provinces, is home to popular mountains and hiking trails and the resort city of Pokhara.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 5 Aug. 2026
  • The movie shot in 35mm film revisits the main character and setting of the director’s minimalist first feature, Freedom, that 25 years earlier chronicled a few days in the life of a solitary woodcutter in the remote Pampas mountains.
    — Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of mountains
Noun
  • From coast to coast, the United States is dotted with sweeping coastal vistas, sparkling lakes, verdant national parks, towering mountains, majestic mesas and countless scenic roads that connect east to west and north to south.
    — Rebecca R. Norris, USA Today, 22 July 2026
  • Beginning in the late 1960s, artists abandoned galleries in favour of deserts, salt flats, mesas, and remote terrain, using these surroundings as both setting and material.
    — Lara Johnson-Wheeler, Vogue, 3 July 2026
Definition of mesas
Noun
  • Popular expat retirement venues include the capital, Panama City; Boquete, a town in the highlands with a somewhat cooler climate; Coronado on the Pacific Coast; and the inland city of David.
    — William P. Barrett, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026
  • But critics point out a growing gap in living standards between coastal areas and communities in the Andean highlands.
    — Franklin Briceño, Los Angeles Times, 28 July 2026
Definition of highlands
Noun
  • In 2024, Purja became the fastest person to summit all 14 of the peaks without supplementary oxygen.
    — Lex Harvey, CNN Money, 31 July 2026
  • The Hunza Valley is located in northern Pakistan and draws travelers with dramatic mountain landscapes, turquoise lakes and picturesque villages set beneath towering Karakoram peaks.
    — Ashley Lynch July 31, Miami Herald, 31 July 2026
Definition of peaks

Browse Nearby Words

buttery
buttes
butt heads
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Cite this Entry

“Buttes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/buttes. Accessed 7 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of buttes for Spanish Speakers

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