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fortify

verb

Simple meaning

To give power, strength, or vigour to.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

fawrtihfy

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈfɔɹtɪfaɪ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. transitive

    To give power, strength, or vigour to (oneself or someone, or to something); to strengthen.

  2. transitivefigurative

    To make (something) defensible against attack by hostile forces.

  3. transitivefigurative

    To impart fortitude or moral strength to (someone or their determination, or something); to encourage.

  4. transitive

    To increase the nutritional value of (food) by adding ingredients, especially minerals or vitamins.

  5. transitivemilitary

    To increase the defences of (an army, soldiers, etc.), or put (it or them) in a defensive position.

  6. Add nutrients to

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient
Frequency
Rare
Typical Use
Primarily written

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To give power, strength, or vigour to (oneself or someone, or to something); to strengthen.

Used this way, fortify is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

further fortify

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • fortified winenounCompound term

    Wine to which alcohol (usually grape brandy) has been added.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: to give power or strength

strengthengird

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.