propped up
Kept from falling
Propped up describes something held in position by a support, or kept from falling or failing through external help.
A pillow can be propped up against the headboard.
More often the phrase is figurative: a failing company propped up by government subsidies, a dictator propped up by foreign powers.
The implication is that without the prop, collapse would follow.
- backedGave support to
- buttressedStrengthened with external bracing
- shore upStrengthen against failure
- supportedGave aid or backing
- bracedSteadied against force
bolstered · subsidize · bail out · too big to fail · underwrite · stabilize · leaning on · crutch · underpinned · wedge · sustained · anchor · reinforce · girded · intervene · buoyed · invest · fund
propped upcollapsed
Fell inward suddenly
knocked down · toppled · fallen · slumped · brought down
propped upabandoned
Left behind completely
unsupported · defunded · hung out to dry · neglected · cast adrift
propped upself-sustaining
Able to continue independently
self-supporting · independent · viable · autonomous · self-sufficient