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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 The $450 million carbon-neutral library blends seamlessly into the rolling buttes. — Alicia Underlee Nelson, Midwest Living, 7 Aug. 2026 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 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
  • Unique red sand, aqua seas, and dramatic lava cliffs provide an inspired setting.
    — Jennifer Tzeses, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 Sep. 2026
  • Try the Whiteside Mountain jaunt, which weaves up 750-foot-tall cliffs, or hike a stretch along the 2,200-mile Appalachian National Scenic Trail, which leads to viewpoints like Wesser Bald Fire Tower.
    — Stephanie Vermillion, Travel + Leisure, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of cliffs
Noun
  • Close in age, Anderson and Coffey have become frequent golf partners and often take long hikes up the mountains and along the reservoirs outside the city, areas that remind Coffey of his rural home country.
    — Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 8 Sep. 2026
  • If convenient, get the family together and travel up to the mountains for a panoramic view of what nature offers every autumn.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of mountains
Noun
  • Los Alamos, not far from Santa Fe, sits at the foot of Pajarito Mountain in a land of canyons and mesas.
    — Daniel de Visé, USA Today, 25 Aug. 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
  • Beyond the conventional routes lie some of the world’s most striking volcanic highlands, black-sand beaches, and untamed wilderness—landscapes that reward those willing to venture farther afield.
    — Gwen Nicol, Travel + Leisure, 29 Aug. 2026
  • My walk took me over the peaks and ridges of the Eastern highlands, on a narrow footpath that rose and fell thousands of feet in the course of an average day.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of highlands
Noun
  • Heat and humidity on Friday are expected to fall from peaks on Thursday, with highs across the region dropping 4 to 8 degrees, forecasts show.
    — Grace Toohey, Los Angeles Times, 11 Sep. 2026
  • The winds become more severe at elevation, where the contraction of the atmosphere along ridgelines and mountain peaks could exceed 40-50 mph in parts of the Sierra.
    — Sean Macaday, Sacbee.com, 11 Sep. 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 17 Sep. 2026.

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