superstructure

UK: /ˈsuːpə^rstrʌktʃə^r/

US: /ˈsupɚˌstrʌktʃɚ/

US: (so̅o̅′pər struk′chər)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

su•per•struc•ture /ˈsupɚˌstrʌktʃɚ/   n. [countable]

1. Civil Engineering, Architecture the part of a building, ship, or construction entirely above its foundation, basement, or deck:
   The superstructure of the battle cruiser rose in the night sky over the Atlantic.

See -stru-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

su•per•struc•ture  (so̅o̅′pər struk′chər), n. 

1. Civil Engineering, Architecture the part of a building or construction entirely above its foundation or basement.
2. Civil Engineering any structure built on something else.
3. the overlying framework or features of an organization, institution, or system, built or superimposed on a more fundamental base.
4. Nautical, Naval Terms any construction built above the main deck of a vessel as an upward continuation of the sides. Cf. deckhouse. 
5. Civil Engineering the part of a bridge that rests on the piers and abutments.
6. anything based on or rising from some foundation or basis:
   a complex ideological superstructure based on two hypotheses.

• super- + structure 1635–45

su′per•struc′tur•al, adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

superstructure / ˈsuːpəˌstrʌktʃə/ noun

1. the part of a building above its foundation
2. any structure or concept erected on something else
3. any structure above the main deck of a ship with sides flush with the sides of the hull
4. the part of a bridge supported by the piers and abutments

ˈsuperˌstructural adjective