buttes

noun

plural of butte
as in cliffs
a type of hill with a flat top and steep sides that is found in the southwestern U.S. The otherworldly sandstone buttes of Monument Valley, Arizona are well worth a visit.

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

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 buttes The $450 million carbon-neutral library blends seamlessly into the rolling buttes. — Alicia Underlee Nelson, Midwest Living, 7 Aug. 2026 Each summer, runners carry prayers more than 50 miles from the town of Bluff, Utah, to the high country below the buttes, and the White Mesa Ute community beside the monument holds its Bear Dance each year. — Kerri J. Malloy, The Conversation, 23 July 2026 Today, visitors can spot wildlife like bison, bighorn sheep, prairie dogs, and black-footed ferrets among the sharply eroded buttes. — Scott Bay, Travel + Leisure, 2 July 2026 From the layer-cake buttes of Badlands National Park to the winding canyons of the Black Hills, this part of South Dakota is legendary. — Ashlea Halpern, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 July 2026 The unique red rock buttes often show up in movies, calendars and magazines. — Staff, USA Today, 8 June 2026 The kitchen turns out whimsical bar food, like Mexican pizza, and wall art depicts the buttes and cacti of the Seussian desert. — Chris Malloy, Bon Appetit Magazine, 14 Apr. 2026 Alaska runs along a ridge just outside of Arches National Park, offering long-range views of the park’s towers and buttes across the Salt Valley. — Graham Averill, Outside, 28 Mar. 2026 As Arizona yielded to New Mexico, the dirt seemed to get redder and the ridges rose to form buttes. — Tribune News Service, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for buttes
  1. cliffs
  2. mountains
  3. mesas
  4. highlands
  5. peaks
Noun
  • Perched along Positano’s cliffs, the hotel soothes the soul and stirs the senses.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Progress has been hampered by persistent rain and challenging terrain, as crews have to work in a narrow mountain gorge, hemmed in between unstable cliffs and a fast-flowing river.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of cliffs
Noun
  • China Daily Nonetheless, for a nation that's made history building easy ways to get up and down mountains, this store feels almost old-fashioned.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Great Smoky Mountains National Park is known for its ancient mountains, diverse plant and animal life and preservation of Southern Appalachian mountain culture, according to the NPS website.
    — David Chiu, PEOPLE, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of mountains
Noun
  • Los Alamos, not far from Santa Fe, sits at the foot of Pajarito Mountain in a land of canyons and mesas.
    — Daniel de Visé, USA Today, 25 Aug. 2026
  • Beginning in the late 1960s, artists abandoned galleries in favour of deserts, salt flats, mesas, and remote terrain, using these surroundings as both setting and material.
    — Lara Johnson-Wheeler, Vogue, 3 July 2026
Definition of mesas
Noun
  • Beyond the conventional routes lie some of the world’s most striking volcanic highlands, black-sand beaches, and untamed wilderness—landscapes that reward those willing to venture farther afield.
    — Gwen Nicol, Travel + Leisure, 29 Aug. 2026
  • My walk took me over the peaks and ridges of the Eastern highlands, on a narrow footpath that rose and fell thousands of feet in the course of an average day.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of highlands
Noun
  • Up to half of the more than 200,000 mountain glaciers — vast, slow moving rivers of ice that creep across the world’s peaks — are expected to disappear by the end of this century, even if ambitious climate goals are met.
    — Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 28 Aug. 2026
  • The steep slopes and lush valleys below the Himalayan mountain range — home to many of the world’s highest peaks and remaining glaciers — are especially vulnerable to flooding and landslides.
    — Shristi Kafle, Fortune, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of peaks

Browse Nearby Words

buttery
buttes
butt heads
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Buttes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/buttes. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

A List of Most Commonly Confused Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 4
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
anagrams on a chalk board
Word Builder Quiz Vol. 2 Pick the letter that when added to a word will ma...
See All