Synonyms of buttresses

buttresses 1 of 2

noun

plural of buttress

1

as in anchors

something or someone to which one looks for support

the mother had always been the buttress of our family in trying times

Synonyms & Similar Words

• anchors
• pillars
• backbones
• crutches
• spines
• mainstays
• standbys
• sinews
• dependences
• reliances
• props
• refuges
• right hands
• anchorages
• harbors
• handmaidens
• stays
• bolsterers

2

as in pillars

a structure that holds up or serves as a foundation for something else

after the wall collapsed, the construction company agreed to rebuild it with a buttress

Synonyms & Similar Words

• pillars
• supports
• shores
• braces
• reinforcements
• mounts
• spurs
• foundations
• columns
• mountings
• props
• underpinnings
• arches
• pilasters
• stays
• trusses
• brackets
• crutches
• bolsters
• pedestals
• cantilevers
• stands
• girders
• shorings
• struts
• pegs
• bearings
• stakes
• frames
• stilts
• bases
• stanchions
• posts

buttresses

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of buttress

1

as in supports

to hold up or serve as a foundation for

a brace buttressed the wall

Synonyms & Similar Words

• supports
• sustains
• bolsters
• carries
• stays
• upholds
• undergirds
• underpins
• braces
• bears
• shores (up)
• underlies
• trusses
• props (up)
• steadies

2

as in reinforces

to provide evidence or information for (as a claim or idea)

a mass of circumstantial evidence buttresses the prosecutor's case

Synonyms & Similar Words

• reinforces
• bolsters
• supports
• proves
• corroborates
• backs
• confirms
• shores (up)
• substantiates
• establishes
• verifies
• affirms
• validates
• avouches

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• undermines
• weakens
• undercuts

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of buttresses

Noun

Researchers have been concerned that without their icy buttresses, these walls could collapse. — Megan I. Gannon, Scientific American, 6 May 2026

Three setbacks provide space for landscaped terraces, and at these floors, the structural columns slope inward, becoming tall buttresses that reintegrate into the latticework. — Adam Williams april 21, New Atlas, 21 Apr. 2026

Arches and natural bridges sweep like buttresses from jumbles of rock, giving this landscape a mystical, cathedral-like quality. — Madison Chapman, Outside, 25 Mar. 2026

Verb

The document filed by the Justice Department in the Los Angeles Superior Court case led by plaintiffs Todd and Kimberley Ferrier — whose Pacific Palisades home burned down — buttresses arguments made by the victims’ attorneys. — Los Angeles Times, 6 May 2026

That very insight further buttresses the need for a grand strategy. — James B. Steinberg, Foreign Affairs, 9 June 2020