strengthen

[ˈstɹeɪŋ(k)θən]UK/ˈstɹɛŋ(k)θən/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

strengthen verb: to make strong or stronger; to add strength to; to increase the strength of; to fortify.

Verb

strengthen (third-person singular simple present strengthens, present participle strengthening, simple past and past participle strengthened)

(transitive) To make strong or stronger; to add strength to; to increase the strength of; to fortify.
- strengthen a muscle
- strengthen a wall
(transitive) To empower; to give moral strength to; to encourage; to enhearten.
- Charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomy iii:28
- my father and mother strengthened me in this my first impression, saying in my presence, I was intended for some great purpose1831, Nat Turner, The Confessions of Nat Turner
(transitive) To augment; to improve; to intensify.
(transitive) To reinforce, to add to, to support (someone or something)
- strengthen an army
- Each half-section of the battery weighs about eight tons, and the two underframes had to be strengthened to take this weight.1958 June, “First Battery Railcars on B.R.”, in Railway Magazine, page 419
(transitive) To substantiate; to corroborate (a belief, argument, etc.)
- strengthen the cause
(intransitive) To grow strong or stronger.
- my affection seems so superfluous that I often wonder why it should be so strong. But wise or foolish, there it is, strengthening with the years whether I will or no1914, Elizabeth Robins Pennell, Our Philadelphia

strengthen meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

strengthen in Hindi

to make strong or stronger: दृढ़ाना dŕṛhānā

strengthen in Tamil

to strengthen, fortify: வற்புறுத்து vaṟpuṟuttu

strengthen in Urdu

مضبوط کرنا, مضبوط بنانا

More languagesFewer languages

strengthen in Bengali: শক্তিশালী করা, জোরদার করা
strengthen in Telugu: బలపరచు balaparacu
strengthen in Malayalam: ഊന്നുക ūnnuka
strengthen in Kannada: ಬಲಗೊಳ್ಳು balagoḷḷu
strengthen in Gujarati: મજબૂત કરવા
strengthen in Sanskrit: ऊर्जयति ūrjáyati, मूर्छ् mūrch
strengthen in Nepali: बलियो बनाउने, सुदृढीकरण गर्ने
strengthen in Tagalog: lakasan
strengthen in Arabic: قَوَّى qawwā, عَزَّزَ ʕazzaza

Examples of strengthen in a sentence

strengthen one's willpower
strengthen one's authority
A little hardship, and a little struggling with the rougher elements of life, will perchance but strengthen and increase his courage, and prepare him for the conflicts and struggles of after years.1851, anonymous author, Arthur Hamilton, and His Dog:
He is strengthening his forces now against Mr.1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
A priority for the new pope will be to strengthen the church’s unity amid differing views and expectations within the institution and growing polarisation in the wider world.2025 May 8, Angela Giuffrida and Harriet Sherwood, “White smoke from Sistine Chapel chimney signals election of new pope”, in The Guardian:

All 40 example sentences with strengthen

Synonyms of strengthen

10 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of strengthen

Forms of strengthen

third-person singular present	strengthens
present participle	strengthening
past participle	strengthened
past	strengthened

Past tense of strengthen: strengthened

Origin of strengthen

From rare Middle English strengthenen (14th c.), from earlier strengthen (12th c.), where -en is the infinitive ending. Probably the original form was reinterpreted as strength + -en around the time when the infinitive ending was being apocopated in late Middle English.

Words formed from strengthen

Words that rhyme with strengthen

lengthen

Questions about strengthen

What does strengthen mean?: Strengthen means to make strong or stronger; to add strength to; to increase the strength of; to fortify.
What is strengthen in Hindi?: Strengthen in Hindi is दृढ़ाना (dŕṛhānā). See Strengthen meaning in Hindi.
How do you use strengthen in a sentence?: strengthen one's willpower
What part of speech is strengthen?: Strengthen is a verb.
How do you pronounce strengthen?: Strengthen is pronounced /ˈstɹɛŋ(k)θən/ (UK).
What is the past tense of strengthen?: The past tense of strengthen is strengthened.

Words near strengthen in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: strengthen (page history and authors); வற்புறுத்து (Tamil) (page history and authors); strengthen (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); strengthen (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); strengthen (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); బలపరచు (Telugu) (page history and authors); ഊന്നുക (Malayalam) (page history and authors); strengthen (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ऊर्जयति (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); strengthen (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Simplificationalizer-strengthen.wav, en-us-strengthen.ogg.

Cite this entry: “strengthen.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/strengthen. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.