as in strongholds
a structure or place from which one can resist attack
the boys built a snow fortress and then challenged the neighborhood kids to an in-your-face snowball fight
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Recent Examples of fortresses
Meanwhile, history buffs will love exploring the island’s capital via colorful Spanish-colonial architecture and imposing, ancient fortresses like La Fortaleza and El Morro.
—
Brittany Chang, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 Jan. 2026
Collective investments in resilience are cheaper than everyone building their own fortresses.
—Haley Ott, CBS News, 21 Jan. 2026
Tour the fortresses, stroll through the town’s central market, and visit Spianada Square, the largest square in Greece.
—Stacey Leasca, Travel + Leisure, 15 Jan. 2026
While the prison grounds have no high fences, the prison units exist as separate fortresses, successors to the long wooden barracks that were once here.
—Literary Hub, 14 Jan. 2026
Secure capitals While both India and Pakistan have historically faced significant security threats, their capitals are meant to be fortresses – home to the seats of government, military leadership, and the diplomatic corps.
—Rhea Mogul, CNN Money, 12 Nov. 2025
Andermatt, Switzerland High in the Alps, where trains wind through snowbound passes and peaks rise like fortresses, Andermatt is one of Switzerland’s most dynamic winter destinations.
—Mark Ellwood, AFAR Media, 7 Nov. 2025
Such structures, including residences and fortresses, were created by religious authorities and noble families, according to the city’s tourism website.
—Sam Gillette, PEOPLE, 3 Nov. 2025
For many Americans, universities appear more like fortresses than forums.
—Nicholas Dirks, Time, 16 Oct. 2025
Brittany Chang, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 Jan. 2026
Collective investments in resilience are cheaper than everyone building their own fortresses.
—Haley Ott, CBS News, 21 Jan. 2026
Tour the fortresses, stroll through the town’s central market, and visit Spianada Square, the largest square in Greece.
—Stacey Leasca, Travel + Leisure, 15 Jan. 2026
While the prison grounds have no high fences, the prison units exist as separate fortresses, successors to the long wooden barracks that were once here.
—Literary Hub, 14 Jan. 2026
Secure capitals While both India and Pakistan have historically faced significant security threats, their capitals are meant to be fortresses – home to the seats of government, military leadership, and the diplomatic corps.
—Rhea Mogul, CNN Money, 12 Nov. 2025
Andermatt, Switzerland High in the Alps, where trains wind through snowbound passes and peaks rise like fortresses, Andermatt is one of Switzerland’s most dynamic winter destinations.
—Mark Ellwood, AFAR Media, 7 Nov. 2025
Such structures, including residences and fortresses, were created by religious authorities and noble families, according to the city’s tourism website.
—Sam Gillette, PEOPLE, 3 Nov. 2025
For many Americans, universities appear more like fortresses than forums.
—Nicholas Dirks, Time, 16 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fortresses
Noun
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The communities that arose there became, to a near-comical degree, temporary cultural strongholds, crammed with artists, musicians, medics, and academics.—
Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
16 Feb. 2026
-
These losses have been particularly notable in historically Black strongholds like Bedford-Stuyvesant and Harlem.—
Naomi Jackson,
Curbed,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Some are outfitted with dozens of pounds of explosives to self-destruct near fortifications or bridges.—
Victor Tangermann,
Futurism,
29 Jan. 2026
-
Passmore’s magisterial, revisionist account of the Maginot Line—the network of French fortifications built in the 1920s and 1930s to stop a German invasion—challenges the conventional understanding of its role in World War II.—
Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Affairs,
16 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
While many American cities are painted as bastions of murder, a new report has revealed that this is not actually the case.—
Justin Klawans,
TheWeek,
27 Jan. 2026
-
Wikipedia is one of the last bastions of the early internet, but that original vision of a free online space has been clouded by the dominance of Big Tech platforms and the rise of generative AI chatbots trained on content scraped from the web.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
18 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The story is a bit murkier than Manichaean talk of stormers and citadels.—
Jon Allsop,
New Yorker,
6 Oct. 2025
-
Intelsat’s leadership rapidly green-lighted the campaign to set up internet citadels.—
Kevin Holden Platt,
Forbes.com,
20 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Moreover, Austria offers, as mentioned, an exceptional variety of locations — from breathtaking Alpine landscapes to historic cities, stunning architecture both historical and contemporary, as well as castles and palaces.—
Ed Meza,
Variety,
15 Feb. 2026
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In addition to castles, the Highlands is home to a veritable cornucopia of mythological creatures, the most famous being Nessie of course.—
Patti Nickell,
Boston Herald,
15 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Beyond its white-, black- or golden-sand beaches and historic forts, the island has the opportunity to carve out a new role as a model for responsible travel, one where visitors don’t just take from the island but give back to it.—
Josh Rivera,
USA Today,
9 Feb. 2026
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Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, alliances with various European powers shifted and forts rose, then fell into piles of matchsticks.—
Jeff Chu,
Travel + Leisure,
7 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fortresses.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fortresses. Accessed 19 Feb. 2026.
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