as in cliff
a steep wall of rock, earth, or ice
the castle sits atop an escarpment that for hundreds of years made it virtually invulnerable to attack
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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 escarpment
For a break from the bustle, locals head to the Edge of the World, a dramatic escarpment about an hour’s drive from downtown that drops into an endless stretch of desert.
—
AFAR Media, 28 Oct. 2025
Perched on the eastern escarpment of the Great Rift Valley with the Ewaso Narok River to the east and the slopes of Mount Kenya to the south, andBeyond Suyian Lodge offers endless panoramic views and access to a wide variety of landscapes, from savannas to rivers and Vechellia woodlands.
—Rebekah Peppler, Travel + Leisure, 19 Sep. 2025
This park is all escarpments, rivers, and old forests.
—Daniel Scheffler, Forbes.com, 12 Sep. 2025
On the eastern side of the escarpment near Noto Canyon is a deposit of sediment reaching up to 800 meters thick.
—Elizabeth Fernandez, Big Think, 4 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for escarpment
AFAR Media, 28 Oct. 2025
Perched on the eastern escarpment of the Great Rift Valley with the Ewaso Narok River to the east and the slopes of Mount Kenya to the south, andBeyond Suyian Lodge offers endless panoramic views and access to a wide variety of landscapes, from savannas to rivers and Vechellia woodlands.
—Rebekah Peppler, Travel + Leisure, 19 Sep. 2025
This park is all escarpments, rivers, and old forests.
—Daniel Scheffler, Forbes.com, 12 Sep. 2025
On the eastern side of the escarpment near Noto Canyon is a deposit of sediment reaching up to 800 meters thick.
—Elizabeth Fernandez, Big Think, 4 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for escarpment
Recent Examples of Synonyms for escarpment
Noun
-
Tucked along the San Diego coastline and surrounded by sandstone cliffs, La Jolla Cove is home to scores of seals, sea lions, and their pups.—
Alanna Bennett,
Condé Nast Traveler,
26 Jan. 2026
-
Paddleboards are disembarked next to an unassuming cliff face.—
Tristan Rutherford,
Robb Report,
26 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Controlling passage through the palisade were twenty-one ornate gates, spaced approximately fifty kilometers apart, meant not only to curb immigration of Han Chinese and Koreans into Qing lands but also to limit movement of any natural resources out.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
14 Nov. 2025
-
The palisade walls and structural support beams that hold up the fort are made to look like wood but are constructed of concrete.—
Patrick Connolly,
The Orlando Sentinel,
1 June 2025
Noun
-
And Edinburgh perfumery Jorum Studio’s scents, which include Phloem and Pony Boy, are witty homages to the country’s crags and concrete jungles.—
CNT Editors,
Condé Nast Traveler,
22 Jan. 2026
-
Even overconfidence is easily understandable at the crag or climbing wall.—
Outside Online,
Outside Online,
19 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
The land was a former family vineyard and cherry tree orchard -- an elevated site draped along a bend of high ridges and exposed bluffs that fall toward the water.—
Erik Matuszewski,
Forbes.com,
28 Jan. 2026
-
There are plenty of picnic spots on the bluffs to soak up the scenic surroundings and even a mixed fir and redwood forest within the property's bounds.—
Chelsee Lowe,
Travel + Leisure,
28 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Escarpment.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/escarpment. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
