ameliorate

[uh-meel-yuh-reyt, uh-mee-lee-uh-] /əˈmil yəˌreɪt, əˈmi li ə-/
verb (used with object), verb (used without object), ameliorated, ameliorating.
1.
to make or become better, more bearable, or more satisfactory; improve; meliorate.
Origin
1760-70; a-5 + meliorate
Related forms
ameliorable, adjective
ameliorableness, noun
ameliorant, noun
ameliorative, amelioratory
[uh-meel-yer-uh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee, uh-mee-lee-uh-] /əˈmil yər əˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i, əˈmi li ə-/ (Show IPA), adjective
ameliorator, noun
unameliorable, adjective
unameliorated, adjective
unameliorative, adjective
Can be confused
ameliorate, obviate, vitiate.
Synonyms
amend, better. See improve.
Antonyms
worsen.
Examples from the web for ameliorate
  • He wanted to know if the company had a suggestion for how to ameliorate this problem.
  • I'm very glad to see someone working to help ameliorate that situation.
  • By expanding our nonpolluting energy choices, we can ameliorate a variety of risks.
  • Education and graded self management experience would appear to be important to ameliorate this situation in the long term.
  • Those who stayed on, a vast majority, are sliding deeper into the poverty the program was intended to ameliorate.
  • She sent them food parcels and nylon stockings in a one-woman crusade to ameliorate Britain's postwar shortages.
  • This is a constructive solution that would help ameliorate the problem.
  • It will take much larger tests to see if vaccines actually work to ameliorate disease during a real flu season.
  • Efforts to ameliorate the situation, he said, went nowhere.
  • To ameliorate the hazard, some turbines are painted black to absorb sunlight and melt the ice faster.
British Dictionary definitions for ameliorate

ameliorate

/əˈmiːljəˌreɪt/
verb
1.
to make or become better; improve
Derived Forms
ameliorable (əˈmiːljərəbəl) adjective
ameliorant, noun
ameliorative, adjective
ameliorator, noun
Usage note
Ameliorate is often wrongly used where alleviate is meant. Ameliorate is properly used to mean `improve', not `make easier to bear', so one should talk about alleviating pain or hardship, not ameliorating it
Word Origin
C18: from meliorate, influenced by French améliorer to improve, from Old French ameillorer to make better, from meillor better, from Latin melior
Word Origin and History for ameliorate
v.

1728, perhaps a back-formation from amelioration on pattern of French améliorer. The simpler form meliorate was used in Middle English. Related: Ameliorated; ameliorating.