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Definition of supportnext
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as in to maintain
to pay the living expenses of a young widow supporting a sick mother as well as two small children on a teacher's salary

Synonyms & Similar Words

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as in to sustain
to hold up or serve as a foundation for pillars supporting the bridge

Synonyms & Similar Words

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as in to reinforce
to provide evidence or information for (as a claim or idea) studies that support the claim that red wine drinkers have a reduced risk of coronary disease and cancer

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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Synonym Chooser

How is the word support different from other verbs like it?

Some common synonyms of support are advocate, back, champion, and uphold. While all these words mean "to favor actively one that meets opposition," support is least explicit about the nature of the assistance given.

supports waterfront development

When could advocate be used to replace support?

While in some cases nearly identical to support, advocate stresses urging or pleading.

advocated prison reform

Where would back be a reasonable alternative to support?

In some situations, the words back and support are roughly equivalent. However, back suggests supporting by lending assistance to one failing or falling.

refusing to back the call for sanctions

When can champion be used instead of support?

The words champion and support are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, champion suggests publicly defending one unjustly attacked or too weak to advocate his or her own cause.

championed the rights of children

When is it sensible to use uphold instead of support?

While the synonyms uphold and support are close in meaning, uphold implies extended support given to something attacked.

upheld the legitimacy of the military action

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 support
Noun
Atlanta and its suburbs also saw a notable decline in support for Republicans, with Fulton, Gwinnett, Cobb, DeKalb and Cherokee counties losing between 35,000 and 77,000 GOP votes each. — Rahul Mukherjee, NPR, 13 Nov. 2026 Opposition leaders have joined forces to resist any attempt to extend Tshisekedi’s rule, organizing protests at home and seeking support from European governments. — Ruben Nyanguila, semafor.com, 13 Nov. 2026
Verb
North Highlands community members are coming together to support the family of a 1-year-old girl, who was killed after being struck by a vehicle at a South Sacramento cemetery during Día de los Muertos celebrations. — Conor McGill, CBS News, 8 Nov. 2026 TobenONE is compatible with both Mac and Windows laptops, and also supports different laptop screen sizes. — Maryna Holovnova, New Atlas, 7 Nov. 2026 See All Example Sentences for support
Recent Examples of Synonyms for support
Noun
  • With closer Raisel Iglesias a free agent, the Braves were in the market for late-inning reinforcements.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 12 Nov. 2026
  • Alterra turns clinicians’ assessments into scoring criteria and rewards used in reinforcement learning, which encourages models to repeat stronger decisions and avoid behaviors experts have flagged as unsafe.
    — Wen Shao, Fortune, 10 Nov. 2026
Noun
  • Since the bill took effect, participation in Florida’s food assistance program dropped to a 17-year low, according to reporting by the Tampa Bay Times.
    — Claire Heddles, Miami Herald, 14 Nov. 2026
  • Multiple casualties were taken ashore for medical assistance while the remaining crew was safe and accounted for, the agency said.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 13 Nov. 2026
Verb
  • That puts Brick between a compressed 40-hour week and the 32-hour model some researchers advocate.
    — Bilin Lin, Fortune, 8 Nov. 2026
  • Barri Worth Girvan, a veteran government employee who ran on a platform of leveraging her experience to advocate for residents, declared victory in the race for Los Angeles City Council’s Third District seat late Friday.
    — Itzel Luna, Los Angeles Times, 7 Nov. 2026
Verb
  • The back half of the album maintains this humid atmosphere but spasms into life.
    — Alex Robert Ross, Pitchfork, 12 Nov. 2026
  • In the past, conducting business overseas required extensive communication that was often difficult to establish and even harder to maintain effectively.
    — William Jones, Miami Herald, 12 Nov. 2026
Verb
  • One unit sustained extensive damage, while the other two units had minor damage, fire officials said.
    — Richard Ramos, CBS News, 11 Nov. 2026
  • Frankly, these stakes aren’t high enough to sustain a two-act show, and the dramatic moments feel forced at times.
    — Emily McClanathan, Chicago Tribune, 11 Nov. 2026
Verb
  • Rather than demolishing and starting again, the team kept the historic walls standing, reinforced every one of them, and dug beneath to take the foundations deeper.
    — Lucas Oliver Mill, Architectural Digest, 11 Nov. 2026
  • The event gave the community a chance to dispose of Halloween pumpkins in an eco-friendly way that would keep them out of landfills and also help reinforce the soil.
    — David Sharos, Chicago Tribune, 11 Nov. 2026
Verb
  • And the oversized Heavenly robes are thick enough to justify padding down to the pool deck without feeling underdressed.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 11 Nov. 2026
  • But the more serious parts of this big business-government-intellectual coalition got to work finding other emergencies to justify not only continuing that kind of wartime federal control, but accelerating it.
    — Connor Okeeffe, Oc Register, 11 Nov. 2026
Verb
  • The results also demonstrated cooling below the conventional Doppler limit, experimentally verifying a long-standing theoretical prediction.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 13 Nov. 2026
  • Think about how many companies still ask questions about your previous addresses or family history when verifying your identity.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 12 Nov. 2026

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Support.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/support. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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