improve
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to bring into a more desirable or excellent condition.
He took vitamins to improve his health.
- Antonyms:
- worsen
-
to make (land) more useful, profitable, or valuable by enclosure, cultivation, etc.
-
to increase the value of (real property) by betterments, as the construction of buildings and sewers.
-
to make good use of; turn to account.
He improved the stopover by seeing a client with offices there.
verb (used without object)
-
to increase in value, excellence, etc.; become better.
The military situation is improving.
- Antonyms:
- worsen
-
to make improvements, as by revision, addition, or change.
None of the younger violinists have been able to improve on his interpretation of that work.
verb
-
to make or become better in quality; ameliorate
-
(tr) to make (buildings, land, etc) more valuable by additions or betterment
-
(intr; usually foll by on or upon) to achieve a better standard or quality in comparison (with)
to improve on last year's crop
noun
Usage
What are other ways to say improve?
To improve something is to bring it into a more desirable or excellent condition. How is improve different from the verbs ameliorate and better? Find out on Thesaurus.com.
Other Word Forms
- improvability noun
- improvable adjective
- improvableness noun
- improvably adverb
- improver noun
- improvingly adverb
- preimprove verb (used with object)
- quasi-improved adjective
- superimproved adjective
- well-improved adjective
Etymology
Origin of improve
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English improuen, emprouen from Anglo-French emprouer “to turn (something) into profit,” derivative of phrase en prou “into profit,” equivalent to en ( en- 1 ) + prou, Old French prou, preu from Late Latin prōde (est), by reanalysis of Latin prōdest “(it) is beneficial, of use,” with prōde taken as a neuter noun ( proud ); the sound v was made by association with prove, approve
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Katie says it's also made her hair thicker and improved her skin texture.
From BBC
Things are certainly improving for a side trying to salvage their season.
From BBC
Under the law, the government will establish a national AI computing centre, improved data resources and large language models in Vietnamese.
From Barron's
In a medical setting, doctors could temporarily pause gene activity if a patient experiences stress or side effects from treatment, then restart it later when conditions improve.
From Science Daily
Bethan Manley, lead Computational biologist at Spun, said the aim was to "improve confidence in woodland creation" by "working with natural processes".
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
