Synonyms of tributaries

tributaries

noun

plural of tributary

as in headwaters

a stream that flows into a larger body of water

the Amazon and its more than 1,000 known tributaries form the world's largest drainage basin

Synonyms & Similar Words

• headwaters
• branches
• bayous
• affluents
• feeders
• sources
• influents
• creeks
• backwaters
• rivulets
• confluents
• streamlets
• brooks
• rills
• runs
• headstreams
• brooklets
• fountainheads
• heads

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• effluents
• distributaries

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of tributaries

Hazmat materials got dumped right into rivers and tributaries. — Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 15 July 2026

Rough weather rolled over the Colorado community of Evergreen on Wednesday night, swelling Bear Creek and tributaries and tossing debris and mud into homes and downtown. — Alan Gionet, CBS News, 25 June 2026

The property features over a mile of frontage along Fall River and controls two of the river’s primary spring-fed tributaries — Spring Creek and Lava Creek, according to Hall and Hall. — David Caraccio, Sacbee.com, 23 June 2026

For more precise information, Three Rivers Waterkeeper, a nonprofit that helps protect and restore the water quality of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers and their surrounding watersheds, samples the rivers and tributaries weekly each summer as part of its Swim Guide program. — Daniel Bain, The Conversation, 22 June 2026

That compact was adopted in 1943 by Colorado, the headwaters of the Republican and several tributaries, and Nebraska and Kansas, the two down-river states. — Allen Best, Denver Post, 14 June 2026

The water, too, was wild—the Allegheny and its tributaries had yet to be dammed, and Flag Swamp was noted as one of the last hideouts for beavers in the state. — Literary Hub, 10 June 2026

In Lake Michigan, the chief source of drinking water for Chicago and its suburbs, the pellets spread from tributaries and pour out of dozens of sewage treatment plants ringing the lake. — Chicago Tribune, 1 June 2026

In Belgium, culvert removals in the Anlier forest are reconnecting smaller tributaries that play an important role in local biodiversity. — Radina Gigova, CNN Money, 27 May 2026