reinforcing
Making something stronger
Reinforcing is adding strength or support to something.
The word appears most often as a present participle or adjective: reinforcing steel bars in concrete, reinforcing a point with evidence.
In psychology, reinforcing describes stimuli that increase the likelihood of a behavior: The treat was reinforcing for the dog.
The sense of strengthening what already exists—whether structures, arguments, or habits—runs through all uses.
Refreshingly keen or stimulating
- shoringTemporary structural support
- underpinningFoundational support beneath
- buttressingSupporting from the side
- proppingSupporting with aid
scaffolding · anchoring · girding · stabilizing · framework · strut · joist · truss
Strengthen or buttress
- buttressArchitectural wall reinforcement
- solidifyMake or become hard
- cementCalcium powder binding agent
- underpinSupport from below
intensify · amplify · heighten · boost · invigorate · energize · empower · augment
Learned behavioral adaptation
- rewardingProviding satisfaction or benefit
- incentivizingProviding motivation through rewards
- encouragingGiving confidence or hope
- promotingActively supporting or furthering
habit-forming · repetition · feedback · stimulus · response · positive · negative · operant
Increase in strength
- boostUpward push or increase
- elevateTo raise upward
- magnifyIncrease perceived size
- augmentIncrease in size
improve · upgrade · optimize · refine · advance · accentuate · enrich · compound
Protective or easily threatened
- garrisonStationed military force
- bunkerReinforced subterranean stronghold
- entrenchmentFortified or fixed position
- rampartFortified defensive wall
bulwark · stronghold · barricade · earthwork · stockade · emplacement · sandbag · blockhouse
bracing
Refreshingly keen or stimulating
- shoringTemporary structural support
- underpinningFoundational support beneath
- buttressingSupporting from the side
propping · scaffolding · anchoring · girding · stabilizing · framework · strut · joist · truss · beam
bolster
Strengthen or buttress
- buttressArchitectural wall reinforcement
- solidifyMake or become hard
- cementCalcium powder binding agent
underpin · intensify · amplify · heighten · boost · invigorate · energize · empower · augment · escalate
conditioning
Learned behavioral adaptation
- rewardingProviding satisfaction or benefit
- incentivizingProviding motivation through rewards
- encouragingGiving confidence or hope
promoting · habit-forming · repetition · feedback · stimulus · response · positive · negative · operant · Pavlovian
amplify
Increase in strength
augment · improve · upgrade · optimize · refine · advance · accentuate · enrich · compound · multiply
defensive
Protective or easily threatened
- garrisonStationed military force
- bunkerReinforced subterranean stronghold
- entrenchmentFortified or fixed position
rampart · bulwark · stronghold · barricade · earthwork · stockade · emplacement · sandbag · blockhouse · redoubt
fastening
Joining two parts together
- bindingLegally or morally required
- clampingFixing firmly with pressure
- lockingFixing firmly in position
latching · sealing · anchoring · immobilizing · tightening · strapping · bolting · riveting · welding · bonding
- reinforcingstrengthening, supporting, bolstering, shoring, propping
- teachingteaching, lesson plans, instructing, educating, courses
- concreteconcrete mixer, concrete pour, concrete slabs, concrete beams, concrete columns
- fortifyingfortifying, barricading, shoring up, buttressing, bracing
- processingprocessing, batch processing, data processing, parallel processing, real-time processing
- constructionconstruction site, building site, hammer, building, beam
reinforcingweakening
Becoming less strong
undermining · eroding · destabilizing · compromising · degrading
reinforcingcontradicting
Asserting the opposite
undermining · refuting · disproving · invalidating · challenging
reinforcingpunishing
Extremely taxing or severe
extinguishing · discouraging · deterring · suppressing · inhibiting
force, effort, enforce, reinforce, fortify, enforced, reinforced, enforcement, forcible