Word.ws English Dictionary

Synonyms of river

56 similar words

Another word for river is fresh. Other synonyms of river are stream, creek, brook, beck and branch.

Synonyms and similar words for river

nounMore synonyms

  • large
  • small
  • brookletA little brook.
  • burnletA small burn (stream).
  • reeA small river or stream.
  • rillA very small brook; a streamlet; a creek, rivulet.
  • rithA small stream or channel.
  • rithe
  • rivulet
  • runlet
  • streamletA small stream.
  • unsorted
  • arroyo
  • bayouA slow-moving, often stagnant creek or river.
  • beckA stream or small river.
  • bogan
  • bogue
  • bourn
  • branchA creek or stream which flows into a larger river.
  • anabranchA diverging branch of a river, creek, or stream which re-enters the main stream.
  • brookA body of running water smaller than a river; a small stream.
  • burn
  • coulee
  • creekA small inlet, often saltwater, leading to the sea or to the main channel of a river, especially a river estuary.
  • crick
  • distributaryA stream of water (either natural or artificial) that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel.
  • drain
  • draw
  • eaA river or watercourse.
  • eauWater.
  • forkA point where a waterway, such as a river or other stream, splits and flows into two (or more) different directions.
  • freshA rush of water, along a river or onto the land; a flood.
  • freshet
  • gill
  • kill
  • lake [⇒ thesaurus] "stream of running water"
  • letch
  • lick
  • nahal
  • nailbourneA chalk stream that only flows intermittently.
  • outletA river that runs out of a lake.
  • prong
  • pup
  • rineA watercourse or ditch.
  • rhineA running waterway that links a ditch or stream to a river.
  • rindleA small stream or rivulet; a watercourse or gutter.
  • rito
  • runA group of fish that migrate, or ascend a river for the purpose of spawning.
  • runnel
  • sike
  • sitch
  • streamA small river; a large creek; a body of moving water confined by banks.
  • tributaryA natural water stream that flows into a larger river or other body of water.
  • wadiA valley, gully, or stream bed in northern Africa and southwest Asia that remains dry except during the rainy season.
  • washGround washed away to the sea or a river.
  • winterbourneA stream that only flows in winter or after wet weather, particularly in an area rich in limestone.

Meaning of river

  1. noun A large and often winding stream which drains a land mass, carrying water down from higher areas to a lower point, oftentimes ending in another body of water, such as an ocean or in an inland sea.
  2. noun Any large flow of a liquid in a single body.
  3. noun The last card dealt in a hand.

Full definition of river

river in other languages

Questions about synonyms of river

What is another word for river?
River has 56 synonyms on Word.ws, such as fresh, stream, creek, brook, beck, branch, tributary and bayou.
What does river mean?
River means a large and often winding stream which drains a land mass, carrying water down from higher areas to a lower point, oftentimes ending in another body of water, such as an ocean or in an inland sea.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: river (page history and authors) and the entries of the words listed. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws grouped the synonyms and antonyms by meaning and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “Synonyms of river.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/synonyms/river. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.