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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. v. To make or become better; improve. See Synonyms at improve.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. To make better, or more tolerable, satisfactory, prosperous, etc.; improve; meliorate.
  2. Synonyms Amend, Improve, Better, etc. See amend.
  3. To grow better; meliorate.

Wiktionary

  1. v. To make better, to improve; to heal; to solve a problem.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. v. To make better; to improve; to meliorate.
  2. v. To grow better; to meliorate.

WordNet 3.0

  1. v. to make better
  2. v. get better

Etymologies

  1. Alteration of meliorate.

Examples

  • “Can activity ameliorate its slow advance - and maintain vocabulary retrieval skills, so that the word "ameliorate" leaps to mind when needed?”

    NYT > Home Page

  • “The question for me is: will the execution of Hussein ameliorate or worsen the situation in Iraq in the short term and in the long run?”

    Balkinization

  • “First World Series manager to ever use the word "ameliorate" in a press conference.”

    Phillies rain on Rays early, defeat them very late

  • “Alexander's reign affected also the specific Jewish problem, which the homoeopathic reforms, designed to "ameliorate" a fraction of the Jewish people, had tried to solve in vain.”

    History of the Jews in Russia and Poland. Volume II From the death of Alexander I. until the death of Alexander III. (1825-1894)

  • “He and Washington lawyer Mike Carvin argued that the insurance requirement distorts the marketplace because it helps "ameliorate" the financial burden insurance companies will face once required to cover everyone - even people with pre-existing conditions.”

    NPR Topics: News

  • “The judge noted that the one positive element in Byrne's case was that his counsel didn't attempt to "ameliorate" his position after conviction.”

    ireland.com Breaking News

  • “In general, white evangelicals are the least likely to endorse government policy to ameliorate the effects of racial prejudice.”

    Simon & Schuster: American Grace

  • “Parish boundaries themselves may be drawn to reinforce ethno-racial separation, rather than ameliorate it.”

    Simon & Schuster: American Grace

  • “Most significantly, evangelicals are less likely to perceive systemic causes of racism, and thus less likely to endorse systemic efforts to ameliorate its consequences.”

    Simon & Schuster: American Grace

Lists

These user-created lists contain the word ‘ameliorate’.

Comments

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  • Wookie501 nice word Sep 18, 2011

  • Telofy Lovely word! I wrote a little something about it here.
    And this is the list of all words/phrases posted during that semester (by all participants). Sep 29, 2009

  • dewiclark29 uh-meel-yuh-reyt :to make or become better, more bearable, or more satisfactory; improve; meliorate. Sep 29, 2009

  • jaymediane v. to ameliorate (third-person singular simple present ameliorates, present participle ameliorating, simple past ameliorated, past participle ameliorated)

    (intransitive) To make better, to improve; to heal or solve a problem.
    They offered some compromises in an effort to ameliorate the disagreement. Mar 11, 2008

  • oroboros Also see: mitigate. Nov 17, 2007

‘ameliorate’ has been looked up 4519 times, loved by 36 people, added to 167 lists, commented on 5 times, and has a Scrabble score of 12.