Synonyms of supporting

supporting 1 of 2

adjective

as in supportive

serving to give support to the truth or factualness of something

scientists looking for direct supporting evidence of microscopic black holes, the existence of which is theoretical

Synonyms & Similar Words

• supportive
• confirming
• substantiating
• verifying
• supplementary
• confirmational
• corroborating
• corroborative
• confirmatory
• vindicating
• probative
• corroboratory
• auxiliary
• beneficial
• probatory
• helpful

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• opposing
• refuting
• contradictory
• counter
• disproving
• contrary
• confuting

supporting

2 of 2

verb

present participle of support

1

as in advocating

to promote the interests or cause of

though childless themselves, they support the local schools both by volunteering and by fiercely opposing funding cuts

Synonyms & Similar Words

• advocating
• endorsing
• championing
• backing
• adopting
• embracing
• helping
• assisting
• patronizing
• aiding
• reinforcing
• going in for
• standing up for
• holding a brief for
• sticking up for
• saving
• plumping (for)
• bolstering
• plonking (for)
• plunking (for)
• going to bat for
• furthering
• abetting
• buttressing
• espousing
• preaching
• rescuing
• forwarding
• advancing
• seconding
• siding (with)
• boosting
• propping (up)
• backstopping
• plugging
• delivering
• talking up
• bailing out

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• opposing
• interfering
• thwarting
• sabotaging
• frustrating
• baffling
• failing
• disappointing
• deserting
• foiling
• letting down

2

as in keeping

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

• keeping
• maintaining
• providing (for)
• funding
• sponsoring
• financing
• taking care of
• underwriting
• patronizing
• staking
• footing the bill (for)
• setting up

3

as in sustaining

to hold up or serve as a foundation for

pillars supporting the bridge

Synonyms & Similar Words

• sustaining
• carrying
• bolstering
• upholding
• staying
• underpinning
• buttressing
• bracing
• bearing
• undergirding
• underlying
• propping (up)
• shoring (up)
• steadying
• trussing

4

as in reinforcing

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

• reinforcing
• bolstering
• proving
• confirming
• corroborating
• backing
• buttressing
• establishing
• verifying
• substantiating
• shoring (up)
• affirming
• validating
• avouching

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• undermining
• weakening
• undercutting

5

as in defending

to continue to declare to be true or proper despite opposition or objections

we support the students' right to speak out on local issues that affect them

Synonyms & Similar Words

• defending
• justifying
• maintaining
• upholding
• advocating
• affirming
• championing
• asserting
• proclaiming
• discussing
• confirming
• sticking up for
• insisting
• standing up for
• vindicating
• pleading
• emphasizing
• protesting
• stating
• espousing
• claiming
• contending
• debating
• arguing
• averring
• professing
• underlining
• underscoring
• stressing
• warranting
• avowing
• avouching

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• abandoning
• withdrawing
• retracting
• reversing
• forsaking
• switching
• taking back
• refuting
• abjuring
• recanting
• disproving
• rebutting
• controverting

6

as in verifying

to give evidence or testimony to the truth or factualness of

new evidence supports the original researchers' unexpected conclusions

Synonyms & Similar Words

• verifying
• confirming
• arguing
• validating
• corroborating
• vindicating
• proving
• authenticating
• certifying
• attesting
• reinforcing
• demonstrating
• substantiating
• witnessing
• establishing
• affirming
• bearing out
• documenting
• testifying (to)
• guaranteeing
• asserting
• declaring
• backing (up)
• averring
• professing
• vouching (for)
• warranting
• avouching
• avowing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• refuting
• disproving
• rebutting
• contradicting
• denying
• disavowing
• disclaiming
• challenging
• contesting
• questioning
• disputing
• gainsaying

7

as in assisting

to provide (someone) with what is useful or necessary to achieve an end

sent reinforcements to support the troops deployed overseas

Synonyms & Similar Words

• assisting
• aiding
• helping
• reinforcing
• backing
• promoting
• abetting
• facilitating
• saving
• endorsing
• encouraging
• bolstering
• guiding
• backstopping
• sponsoring
• propping (up)
• fostering
• furthering
• championing
• bearing a hand
• forwarding
• launching
• sustaining
• attending
• serving
• comforting
• benefiting
• rescuing
• advancing
• standing one in good stead
• patronizing
• buttressing
• advising
• mentoring
• ministering (to)
• nurturing
• easing
• boosting
• profiting
• succoring
• favoring
• caring (for)
• delivering
• counseling
• obliging
• bailing out
• emboldening
• heartening

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• hindering
• opposing
• blocking
• restraining
• inhibiting
• obstructing
• impeding
• interfering
• hampering
• constraining
• barring
• thwarting
• holding back
• failing
• strangling
• sabotaging
• handicapping
• balking
• disappointing
• frustrating
• deserting
• baffling
• discouraging
• letting down
• retarding
• inconveniencing
• foiling
• repressing
• hurting
• damaging
• disheartening
• stifling
• harming
• injuring
• stunting
• straitening

8

as in tolerating

to put up with (something painful or difficult)

he simply cannot support the thought of having to go on living without his beloved wife at his side

Synonyms & Similar Words

• tolerating
• accepting
• standing
• handling
• enduring
• taking
• sustaining
• bearing
• absorbing
• wearing
• meeting
• swallowing
• stomaching
• living with
• sticking out
• abiding
• pocketing
• standing for
• hacking
• countenancing
• biding
• going
• lumping (it)
• allowing
• sweating out
• permitting
• brooking
• suffering
• toughing it out
• respecting
• reconciling (to)
• acquiescing
• submitting (to)
• yielding (to)
• agreeing (with or to)
• consenting (to)
• assenting (to)
• capitulating

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• refusing
• rejecting
• dismissing
• opposing
• declining
• fighting
• resisting
• repudiating
• combating
• contesting
• avoiding
• turning down
• missing
• escaping
• spurning
• evading
• bypassing
• circumventing
• dodging
• eluding
• refraining (from)
• abstaining (from)
• forbearing

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of supporting

Adjective

Some went after Cashman, some after Boone, some after Steinbrenner’s son Hal, and some after Aaron Judge’s non-supporting cast. —Ian O'Connor, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025

Sure, that was exacerbated, and to some degree directly caused, by the ample non-supporting cast around him, especially on the offensive line. —Vahe Gregorian, Kansas City Star, 11 Sep. 2025

Verb

All of the proceeds raised from the event went to supporting Altman's family. —Victor Jacobo, CBS News, 12 Apr. 2026

By his third hosting gig in 2014, he was joined onstage during his monologue by Leonardo DiCaprio, his co-star in the searing satire The Wolf of Wall Street, a Martin Scorsese picture that netted Hill his second Oscar nomination for best supporting actor after Moneyball just three years earlier. —Josh Spiegel, HollywoodReporter, 11 Apr. 2026

Cory Monteith had made headway in bit parts and supporting roles when Ryan Murphy plucked him from near obscurity to portray Finn Hudson, the high school quarterback with a softer side and a killer set of pipes. —James Mercadante, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Apr. 2026

Duncan, for his part, tried to strike a balance between supporting the Royals — and his support for a downtown stadium — and the argument over what the city’s role in that discussion should be. —Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 11 Apr. 2026

This was the first flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. —Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 11 Apr. 2026

Curators pop up in famous artists’ biographies all the time, usually as handmaidens to the creator’s genius, opening a door to a gallery here or supporting a grant application there. —Hilton Als, New Yorker, 4 Apr. 2026

Bay Staters interested in supporting the cause can pre-order the special plates online and will be placed on a waiting list. —Lance Reynolds, Boston Herald, 4 Apr. 2026

The role earned her an Emmy nomination in 2025 for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series. —Jack Dunn, Variety, 4 Apr. 2026