Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To make or become better; improve. See Synonyms at improve.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To make better, or more tolerable, satisfactory, prosperous, etc.; improve; meliorate.
- Synonyms Amend, Improve, Better, etc. See amend.
- To grow better; meliorate.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To make better; to improve; to meliorate.
- v. To grow better; to meliorate.
WordNet 3.0
- v. to make better
- v. get better
Etymologies
- Influenced by French améliorer and Latin a- ("to") + melior ("better"). (Wiktionary)
- Alteration of meliorate. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Can activity ameliorate its slow advance - and maintain vocabulary retrieval skills, so that the word "ameliorate" leaps to mind when needed?”
“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?”
“First World Series manager to ever use the word "ameliorate" in a press conference.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“In general, white evangelicals are the least likely to endorse government policy to ameliorate the effects of racial prejudice.”
“Parish boundaries themselves may be drawn to reinforce ethno-racial separation, rather than ameliorate it.”
“Most significantly, evangelicals are less likely to perceive systemic causes of racism, and thus less likely to endorse systemic efforts to ameliorate its consequences.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘ameliorate’.
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GRE 2014
abate, abdicate, abase, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
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allover
reintegrate, spight, surveillant, harmonize, Colophon, workplace, bigoted, unsighted, bridgework, salutation, voltmeter, octane and 159 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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GRE Barron's 800
zealot, wistful, welter, wary, whimsical, warranted, vortex, vivisection, volatile, vitiate, viscous, visage and 787 more...
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New words
new words or spelling issues
voluble, Metagrobolize, salubrious, calumny, fugacity, withdrawal, bourse, hypertrophy, leitmotif, argot, improvident, damask and 238 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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501
Classic
bane, bilk, boor, elan, ado, toil, onus, aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august and 401 more...
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Lolita
Marat, diaphanous, stolid, inveigle, moll, domicile, pugilist, indigent, corpulent, erudite, coruscate, ameliorate and 16 more...
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man gre
abase, abeyance, abreast, abscission, abscond, abyss, accede, accretion, acerbic, acidulous, acumen, adulterate and 483 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1834 more...
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magoosh1
aberration, aboveboard, abysmal, ace, affable, aghast, alacrity, ambiguous, ambivalent, ameliorate, amenable, amiable and 215 more...
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ICE
quincunx, adoxography, panjundrum, breloque, surd, scripturient, rousant, favrile, embouchure, aquarelle, griffonage, sussultatory and 234 more...
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five syllables
ontogenesis, phylogenesis, concatenation, androgenesis, extra textual, inexorably, spagyrically, apophenia, iatrochemist, monocotyloid, morphological, parthenogenic and 941 more...
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My preparation
for GRE ofcourse
morbid, disparate, incipient, exonerate, engross, ebullient, predilection, propensity, allure, qualms, chastise, perpetuate and 111 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for ameliorate.
alexz just saw this word today http://m.theregister.co.uk/2013/04/06/silent_circle_private_email_expansion/ "None of them were serious, and all of them were fixed or ameliorated." Apr 6, 2013
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