fortress

American  

[fawr-tris] / ˈfɔr trɪs /

noun

• fortresses
  plural

1. 

   a large fortified place; a fort or group of forts, often including a town; citadel.

2. any place of exceptional security; stronghold.

---

fortress British  

/ ˈfɔːtrɪs /

noun

1. a large fort or fortified town

2. a place or source of refuge or support

---

verb

1. (tr) to protect with or as if with a fortress

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• fortresses
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of fortress

1300–50; Middle English forteresse < Old French < Vulgar Latin *fortaricia (compare Medieval Latin fortalitia ), equivalent to Latin fort ( is ) strong + -ar-, formative of uncertain meaning +- icia -ice

---

Explanation

A fortress is a large building or complex of buildings used as a military stronghold. In a military sense, a fortress is often called a “fort." From its original sense of stronghold, the word fortress has stretched to include strongholds in a more figurative sense. Martin Luther used fortress to describe unfailing spiritual support when he wrote, “A mighty fortress is our God.” When someone has a hard time trusting others, you might say they have retreated to a "fortress of their own making."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fortress fortresses

Wall Street Journal reporter Lindsay Ellis chronicles his odyssey trying to penetrate the fortress of today’s no-hire job market.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026

Those who don’t have a job are locked out of the growing economy as if it were a fortress, leaving them puzzled by the headlines of low unemployment and an accelerating GDP.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026

It is early days but Andoni Iraola will know that if his time at Liverpool is going to be a success, then he must make Anfield a fortress again.

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026

The list also includes five castles in south Lebanon's Jabal Amel area, among them the Crusader-era Beaufort fortress, which Israeli forces captured in May.

From Barron's ● Aug. 29, 2026

“Okay, so were up against an armored fortress, with how many knucklehead-riding guards did you say, Mapper?”

From "Dactyl Hill Squad" by Daniel José Older

Two medieval fortresses face each other across the Narva River, separating Estonia from Russia on Europe's eastern edge.

From Barron's ● Feb. 6, 2026

The fortresses around the turquoise waters of Singapore’s only sand beaches are now abandoned, but a string of British officer’s barracks in the island’s lush interior have been put to new use.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2025

To love a Scorpio, then, is to fiercely protect their softness with the same shadowy ardor that they use to construct their inner adamantine fortresses.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2024

Saturday's main event took place after pre-sunrise rituals, and hundreds of youngsters used the pool in front of one of Gondar's fortresses to get baptised.

From BBC ● Jan. 20, 2024

Over the next ten minutes, ministers followed the protest of alien nerves in fortresses across the Bonecruel Mountains and the Plateau of Drume.

From "The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge" by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• barrier
• citadel
• garrison
• rampart

---