improve

1. 1.

   to make better

   “The editor improved the manuscript with his changes”

   Synonymsbetteramendamelioratemeliorate

   Broaderchange

   Narrowerrelievehelpregenerateenrichbuild upturn aroundupgradeconditionemendiron out
2. 2.

   get better

   “The weather improved toward evening”

   Synonymsbetteramelioratemeliorate

   Broaderchange state

   Narrowerrecuperatehealreformsurgeturn aroundget wellmendfructifyupgrade

Other forms of improve

past tense

improved·

present participle

improving·

third person

improves·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about improve

What does improve mean?

improve means "to make better". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in improve?

improve has 2 syllables: im-prove. The stress falls on "prove". In IPA it is /ˌɪmˈpɹuv/.

What is another word for improve?

Close synonyms include better, amend, ameliorate, meliorate, better. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is improve a common word?

improve is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

What rhymes with improve?

3 words rhyme with improve. Rhymes are matched on the phonemes from the last stressed vowel onward, which is the definition a reader has in their head.