There aren't many things that will buoy your confidence as much as repeated compliments on how great your new haircut looks. The verb buoy means boost or increase.
A buoy is a floating marker that indicates the presence of underwater hazards, channels, or places for tying up boats. When buoy is a verb, it means float like a buoy, like when you see water buoy up an enormous swan, or the wind buoy up a kite. A more figurative meaning of buoy is to cheer or lift someone's spirits. One way to remember buoy's unusual spelling is the phrase, "Boats usually opt to steer around a buoy."
