Thesaurus results for EDIFICE

edifice

noun

ˈe-də-fəs

Definition of edifice

as in tower

a large, magnificent, or massive building the U.S. Capitol is one of our nation's most impressive edifices

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in building

something built as a dwelling, shelter, or place for human activity the first edifices built by the colonists were primitive huts with walls of dried mud and roofs covered with thatch

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in structure

the arrangement of parts that gives something its basic form the edifice of the argument is quite simple, once you get past the fancy language

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 edifice Built in 1829 as a seminary, the Colonial-style edifice went on to become a country club, then faculty housing for nearby Bennington College, and later a private home, remaining in the same family’s care for some six decades. — Sam Cochran, Architectural Digest, 13 July 2026 In a provocation to the Forest Service officers monitoring the blockade, the slightest nudging threatened to send the edifice crashing to the ground and Tubbs to his maiming or death. — Literary Hub, 10 July 2026 The 1963 demolition of the original Penn Station, one of the great 20th century American edifices, was a ghastly mistake that New York has lived with and tried to correct for six decades. — Andy Byford, New York Daily News, 5 July 2026 The rest of the album splits the difference between this newfound scrappiness and the skyscraping edifices Madeon built his name on. — Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 26 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for edifice

Recent Examples of Synonyms for edifice

Noun

Lomonaco arrived after the restaurant was closed for three years following the first terrorist bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993 that killed six people and injured more than 1,000 but left the towers intact.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 5 Sep. 2026
Play spaces — including the centerpiece play structure with two domed towers — are accessible to wheelchair users via ramp.

— Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of tower

Noun

Rome’s cultural superintendent, Claudio Parisi Presicce, said the grandeur of the port city as depicted in the fresco, with buildings, a theater and temple, public piazzas and towers, was particularly well conserved.

— ABC News, ABC News, 8 Sep. 2026
The new seven-floor, 82,000-square-foot building was designed by Adjaye Associates, with Cooper Robertson serving as executive architect.

— News Desk, Artforum, 8 Sep. 2026

Definition of building

Noun

That pair, combined with the wider structure and personnel around them, ensure Leeds do not collapse when home sides like Brighton, predictably, lay it on thick.

— Beren Cross, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2026
Officials asked the public to continue avoiding the parking structure while police investigated.

— Michael McGough, Sacbee.com, 6 Sep. 2026

Definition of structure

Noun

Walking through a historic cathedral in zip-off cargo pants and a neon-yellow souvenir shirt broadcasts your status as an outsider.

— Christopher Elliott, USA Today, 7 Sep. 2026
After greeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the US envoy was taken on a tour of a cathedral in central Kyiv damaged in Russian attacks.

— Sophie Tanno, CNN Money, 6 Sep. 2026

Definition of cathedral

Noun

Its architecture includes an X-point divertor, which continuously removes exhaust from the stellarator during fusion operations.

— Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 10 Sep. 2026
The Venetians came and colonized 500 years ago, and many vestiges of our Venetian past are still visible, not just in the architecture and in our food.

— Shannon McMahon, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of architecture

Noun

To build the president’s White House ballroom, roughly 250 workers have been pouring concrete and installing steel framework, keeping the site humming for 20 hours a day, seven days a week.

— Janay Kingsberry, The Atlantic, 5 Sep. 2026
Osteopathic medical education intentionally integrates biomedical, clinical, health systems and biomechanical sciences, and concepts aligned with complexity science into a coherent framework for physician formation.

— Torie Bosch, STAT, 5 Sep. 2026

Definition of framework

Browse Nearby Words

edification

edifice

edifices

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Edifice.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/edifice. Accessed 14 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of edifice

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

empirical

Popular in Grammar & Usage

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

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Popular in Wordplay

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Popular

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

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Games & Quizzes