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im·prove (im pro̵̅o̅v′)

transitive verb improved -·proved′, improving -·prov′·ing

  1. Now Rare to use profitably or to good advantage to improve one's leisure by studying
  2. to raise to a better quality or condition; make better
  3. ☆ to make (land or structures) more valuable by cultivation, construction, etc.

Etymology: earlier improw < Anglo-Fr emprower < en-, in + prou, gain, advantage < LL prode, advantage (back-form. < L prodesse, to be of advantage): see pro- & is

intransitive verb

to become better in quality or condition

Related Forms:

improve Idioms

improve on

or improve upon
to do or make better than, as by additions or changes

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

improve Synonyms

improve

v.

  1. To make better

    better, ameliorate, mend, amend, enhance, enrich, cultivate, revise, update, upgrade, elevate, polish, refine, purify, enlarge, touch up, edit, emend, civilize, educate, meliorate, landscape, develop, revamp, renew, give color to, set right, reorganize, promote, reform, raise, lift, rectify, correct, rehabilitate, renovate, spruce up, gentrify, refashion, regenerate, retread, overhaul, fix, straighten out, distill, change for the better, fix up*, doctor up*, give a good going over*, be the making of*; see also adjust 3, change 1, correct 1, repair.

    Antonyms destroy*, impair*, downgrade. *

  2. To become better

    get better, advance, progress, make progress, show improvement, make strides, make headway, gain ground, ameliorate, regenerate, renew, recover, gain strength, develop, grow better, grow, rally, mend, gain, come around, profit, augment, widen, increase, mellow, mature, come along, come on, get on, get along, take a new lease on life*, look up*, shape up*, pick up*, perk up*, snap out of it*; see also recover 2, 3.

    Antonyms weaken*, worsen*, deteriorate.

improve and better both imply a correcting or advancing of something that is not in itself necessarily bad, the former by supplying a lack or want to improve a method and the latter by seeking something more satisfying he's left his job to better himself; ameliorate implies improving to some degree a condition that is bad, oppressive, or intolerable to begin with to ameliorate the lot of the poor


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

improve Usage Examples

Object

  • quality: Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang is helping to improve air quality with a cleaner, quieter engine.

Preposition: as

  • result: Innovation, experimentation and risk taking would be encouraged and services should improve as a result.

Modifying Another Word

  • continually: We value positive attitude and welcome change to continually improve all that we do.

Used with why or when

  • when: The savers are a bit basic but will hopefully improve when I can afford some better software and have acquired more images.

Present participle complement

  • learn: Also under development are a Local Employment Initiative and IT projects to improve learning and employment opportunities.
improve usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

improve quotes

We are living now, not in the delicious intoxication induced by the early successes of science, but in a rather grisly morning-after, when it has become apparent that what triumphant science has donehitherto isto improve the means for achieving unimproved or actually deteriorated ends.

-Huxley, Aldous Leonard

Peanut butter has survived everything that has been done to improve it.

-Keillor, (Gary Edward) Garrison

We don't want apartheid liberalized.We want it dismantled.You can't improve something that is intrinsically evil.

-Tutu, Desmond Mpilo

improve quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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MLA Style

"improve." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 4 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/improve>

APA Style

improve. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 4th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/improve

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