Entrench: meaning, example and synonyms
Entrenchv. To establish a practice or position so firmly that change is very difficult.
Example
Decades of favorable rulings had so entrenched the guild's privileges that reformers despaired of ever loosening its grip on the trade.
- Part of speech
- verb
- Synonyms
- establish, embed, ingrain, root
- Antonyms
- uproot, dislodge, eradicate, weaken
- Memory tip
- Dug into a trench: entrenched ideas are dug in deep.
Entrench is in batch 11. Study it with the rest of the batch, then pass the batch quiz to learn it. No account needed; progress is saved on this device.
Check yourself: Entrench in context
Each successive election victory further ______ the ruling party's control over regional offices, making a challenge from newcomers increasingly unlikely.
Answer: entrenched. Victories that make challenges unlikely have entrenched (firmly fixed) control. Replenished (refilled), prefigured (foreshadowed) and extricated (freed) don't explain why challenge grows harder.
Once a habit becomes ______ through years of daily repetition, breaking it requires far more than simple willpower.
Answer: entrenched. Years of repetition fix a habit so firmly it is hard to break: entrenched. Extricated (freed), replenished (refilled) and dwindled (shrunk) wouldn't make a habit harder to break.