ameliorate

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French améliorer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈmiːli.əɹeɪt/

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Verb

ameliorate (third-person singular simple present ameliorates, present participle ameliorating, simple past and past participle ameliorated)

1. (transitive) To make better, or improve, something perceived to be in a negative condition.

   They offered some compromises in an effort to ameliorate the situation.

   • 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter 3, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volumes (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:

     In every human being there is a wish to ameliorate his own condition.

   • 2023, Eric Sims, Jing Cynthia Wu, and Ji Zhang, The Four-Equation New Keynesian Model, The Review of Economics and Statistics 105(4), pp. 931--947

     We further show that an implementable rule for the central bank's long bond portfolio significantly ameliorates the adverse consequences of a binding ZLB on the policy rate.

2. (intransitive) To become better; improve.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:improve

Antonyms

• deteriorate
• worsen

Derived terms

Related terms

• amelioration
• ameliorative
• ameliorable
• inameliorable
• meliorate

Translations

See also

• alleviate
• mitigate