AMELIORATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does ameliorate mean? 

• AMELIORATE (verb)
  The verb AMELIORATE has 2 senses:

1. to make better

2. get better

  Familiarity information: AMELIORATE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• AMELIORATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they ameliorate    ... he / she / it ameliorates   
Past simple: ameliorated   
Past participle: ameliorated   
-ing form: ameliorating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

To make better

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

ameliorate; amend; better; improve; meliorate

Context example:

The editor improved the manuscript with his changes

Hypernyms (to "ameliorate" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Cause:

ameliorate; better; improve; meliorate (get better)

Verb group:

ameliorate; better; improve; meliorate (get better)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "ameliorate"):

reform (make changes for improvement in order to remove abuse and injustices)

educate (give an education to)

reform (improve by alteration or correction of errors or defects and put into a better condition)

beautify; embellish; fancify; prettify (make more beautiful)

build (improve the cleansing action of)

hone; perfect (make perfect or complete)

down; fine-tune; polish; refine (improve or perfect by pruning or polishing)

distill; make pure; purify; sublimate (remove impurities from, increase the concentration of, and separate through the process of distillation)

fructify (make productive or fruitful)

lift; raise (invigorate or heighten)

advance (develop further)

upgrade (give better travel conditions to)

bushel; doctor; fix; furbish up; mend; repair; restore; touch on (restore by replacing a part or putting together what is torn or broken)

enhance (make better or more attractive)

iron out; put right; straighten out (settle or put right)

emend (make improvements or corrections to)

condition (put into a better state)

upgrade (to improve what was old or outdated)

help (improve; change for the better)

turn around (improve dramatically)

build up; develop (change the use of and make available or usable)

enrich (make better or improve in quality)

regenerate; revitalize (restore strength)

aid; help (improve the condition of)

alleviate; assuage; palliate; relieve (provide physical relief, as from pain)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

amelioration (the act of relieving ills and changing for the better)

ameliorative; amelioratory (tending to ameliorate)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Get better

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

ameliorate; better; improve; meliorate

Context example:

The weather improved toward evening

Hypernyms (to "ameliorate" is one way to...):

change state; turn (undergo a transformation or a change of position or action)

Verb group:

ameliorate; amend; better; improve; meliorate (to make better)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "ameliorate"):

heal (get healthy again)

reform; see the light; straighten out (change for the better)

surge (see one's performance improve)

pick up; turn around (improve significantly; go from bad to good)

bounce back; get over; get well (improve in health)

heal; mend (heal or recover)

fructify (become productive or fruitful)

upgrade (get better travel conditions)

convalesce; recover; recuperate (get over an illness or shock)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Derivation:

amelioration (the act of relieving ills and changing for the better)

ameliorative; amelioratory (tending to ameliorate)

 Context examples 

Mimicking testosterone's action, this agent may increase lean body mass, thereby ameliorating muscle wasting in the hypermetabolic state of cancer cachexia.

(Enobosarm, NCI Thesaurus)

Spring drew on: she was indeed already come; the frosts of winter had ceased; its snows were melted, its cutting winds ameliorated.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

On November 25, Venus will enter Capricorn and do her best to ameliorate your relationship.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

I felt the greatest eagerness to hear the promised narrative, partly from curiosity and partly from a strong desire to ameliorate his fate if it were in my power.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

A public health activity whereby individuals who have been exposed to a person with a suspected or confirmed contagious illness are identified, usually for the purpose of identifying additional cases of the illness, or to offer some form of prophylactic intervention to either prevent or ameliorate disease in the exposed individual.

(Disease Contact Investigation, NCI Thesaurus)