fortify
Americanverb (used with object)
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fortifies,
present (3rd person singular)
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fortified,
past participle, past
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fortifying
present participle
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to protect or strengthen against attack; surround or provide with defensive military works.
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to furnish with a means of resisting force or standing strain or wear.
to fortify cotton with nylon.
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to make strong; impart strength or vigor to.
to fortify oneself with a good breakfast.
- Synonyms:
- reinforce, strengthen
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to increase the effectiveness of, as by additional ingredients.
to fortify a diet with vitamins; to fortify a lotion with lanolin.
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to strengthen mentally or morally.
to be fortified by religious faith.
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to confirm or corroborate.
to fortify an accusation with facts.
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Nutrition. to add one or more ingredients to (a food) to increase its nutritional content.
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to add alcohol to (wine or the like).
verb (used without object)
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fortifies,
present (3rd person singular)
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fortified,
past participle, past
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fortifying
present participle
verb
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(also intr) to make (a place) defensible, as by building walls, digging trenches, etc
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to strengthen physically, mentally, or morally
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to strengthen, support, or reinforce (a garment, structure, etc)
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to add spirits or alcohol to (wine), in order to produce sherry, port, etc
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to increase the nutritious value of (a food), as by adding vitamins and minerals
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to support or confirm
to fortify an argument with facts
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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fortifiernoun
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refortifyverb (used with object)
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underfortifyverb (used with object)
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fortifiableadjective
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nonfortifiableadjective
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nonfortifyingadjective
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unfortifiableadjective
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fortifyinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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fortifysimple
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fortifiessimple
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have fortifiedperfect
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has fortifiedperfect
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am fortifyingprogressive
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are fortifyingprogressive
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is fortifyingprogressive
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have been fortifyingperfect progressive
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has been fortifyingperfect progressive
Past
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fortifiedsimple
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had fortifiedperfect
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was fortifyingprogressive
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were fortifyingprogressive
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had been fortifyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of fortify
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English fortifien, from Middle French fortifier, from Late Latin fortificāre, equivalent to Latin forti(s) “strong” + -ficāre -fy
Explanation
If you add nutrients to something you fortify it. Food scientists have found ways to fortify cereal, but in addition to vitamins C and D, they usually add a lot of sugar. If you strengthen your defenses, you fortify them, perhaps by adding more arms or increasing your defensive walls. Sometimes the defenses you fortify will be tangible and sometimes the word is used metaphorically to mean give courage. If a castle was originally vulnerable to attack, the owner might fortify it by adding a moat — and maybe filling it with crocodiles. If you're nervous about giving a speech, you should fortify yourself with a pep talk first.
Vocabulary lists containing fortify
Stay Strong: Forc and Fort
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"The Diary of Anne Frank," Vocabulary from the drama
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Nutrition - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But Christian Rood of LeydenJar says companies like his can fortify Europe's position in what has become a global contest.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
“We continue to fortify our region’s safety net despite growing access demands and challenges,” Hampton said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026
At the same time, businesses are working to fortify their networks against the growing risks of AI-powered cyberattacks, he added.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
He has tried to fortify the land, closing off gateways, putting in concrete blocks or piles of logs, and digging rows of deep ditches to make it undrivable.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
“Time to conjure the bottle tree. The last thing. The sky-ferries will take us back to the pier soon, but I want to fortify it for you.”
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
It builds and fortifies institutions that require political actors to reason, argue and compromise with one another—checks and balances, federalism, bicameralism and so on.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
It’s what fortifies our bodies and keeps us curious.
From Salon ● May 25, 2026
Prebiotic fiber, from sources like legumes, fortifies the good bacteria in your digestive system and, in turn, benefits your metabolism and immune system.
From MarketWatch ● May 10, 2026
This fortifies the inversion as it squeezes downward on the marine layer.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2023
You touch there on the kernel of the social system—the secret that fortifies the individual and disciplines the million.
From The International Monthly, Volume 4, No. 3, October, 1851 by Various
If anything, adversity seems only to have fortified these musicians, which may in part account for Mr. Noseda’s decision in March 2025 to renew his contract with the NSO through 2030-31, its centennial season.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Iodized table salt is mined from underground deposits, processed to remove other minerals and fortified with iodine, which is important for thyroid health and proper hormone production.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
For the binder, I whisked together an egg, a little buttermilk and chicken stock that I’d fortified with an extra spoonful of Better Than Bouillon and an absurd amount of black pepper.
From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026
"Confidence and reciprocity are beginning to take shape to open the door to engagement on the most difficult issues," says Gagnon whom we meet inside the UN's vast, heavily fortified compound.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Here, there was a strongly fortified line of German troops, airfields, tanks, searchlights, headquarters, and machine gun and antiaircraft batteries.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
President George W. Bush later that month vowed to pursue fixes like fortifying cockpit doors and “technology to enable controllers to take over distressed aircraft and land it by remote control.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
It is primarily tasked with repairing and fortifying the city’s more than 210,000 streetlamps — a frequent target of copper wire thieves — and maintaining its network of electrical vehicle charging stations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026
Writing about the fortifying effect of pairing oysters with cold white wine in “A Moveable Feast,” Ernest Hemingway declared, “I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026
Iran has been fortifying an underground complex near one of its nuclear facilities, according to analysis of new satellite images.
From BBC ● Feb. 12, 2026
The forest itself, ten miles across, was a tangled thicket of trees and thorny underbrush honeycombed with German tunnels, concrete dugouts, and machine-gun nests that the Germans had spent four years fortifying.
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
