- to make or become better in quality; ameliorate
- (transitive) to make (buildings, land, etc) more valuable by additions or betterment
- (intransitive; usually followed by on or upon) to achieve a better standard or quality in comparison (with): to improve on last year's crop
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
im•prove /ɪmˈpruv/USA pronunciation
v., -proved, -prov•ing.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- to (cause to) become better: [~ + object]Exercise improves one's health.[no object]His health seems to be improving.
- to increase the value of (real property) by remodeling or adding features:[~ + object]improved the property by remodeling the bathroom.
- improve on, [~ + object] to produce something better than:tried to improve on my previous supervisor's work by adding to what she had started.
im•prove
(im pro̅o̅v′),USA pronunciation v., -proved, -prov•ing.
v.t.
v.i.
im•prov′a•ble, adj.
im•prov′a•bil′i•ty, im•prov′a•ble•ness, n.
im•prov′a•bly, adv.
im•prov′ing•ly, adv.
v.t.
- to bring into a more desirable or excellent condition:He took vitamins to improve his health.
- 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.
v.i.
- to increase in value, excellence, etc.;
become better:The military situation is improving. - 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.
- Late Latin prōde (est), by reanalysis of Latin prōdest (it) is beneficial, of use, with prōde taken as a neuter noun, nominal (compare proud); v by association with prove, approve
- Anglo-French emprouer to turn (something) into profit, derivative of phrase en prou into profit, equivalent. to en (see en-1) + prou, Old French prou, preu
- late Middle English improuen, emprouen 1425–75
im•prov′a•bil′i•ty, im•prov′a•ble•ness, n.
im•prov′a•bly, adv.
im•prov′ing•ly, adv.
- 1. amend, emend. Improve, ameliorate, better imply bringing to a more desirable state. Improve usually implies remedying a lack or a felt need:to improve a process, oneself(as by gaining more knowledge). Ameliorate, a formal word, implies improving oppressive, unjust, or difficult conditions:to ameliorate working conditions.To better is to improve conditions which, though not bad, are unsatisfying:to better an attempt, oneself( gain a higher salary).
- 1. 5. worsen.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
improve /ɪmˈpruːv/ vb
'improving' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
cultivation
- culture
- cure
- didactic
- edit
- eugenics
- euthenics
- family therapy
- image enhancement
- improvement
- melioration
- mnemonics
- plasticizer
- rubber
- self-discipline
- upgrade
- acoustical cloud
- aerobics
- amendment
- blueprinting
- casework
- CCC
- child welfare
- cosmetic
- cosmetic surgery
- decating
- Delsarte method
- drill tower
- Food and Agriculture Organization
- game
- gentrification
- housecleaning
- human relations
- improve
- League of Women Voters
- legume
- lime
- mend
- operation
- patterning
- philosophy
- UNICEF
- uplift
- welfare economics
- whole
- World Health Organization
- seasoning
- setting-up exercises
- spike