ameliorate
verb/əˈmiːliəreɪt/
/əˈmiːliəreɪt/
(formal)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they ameliorate | /əˈmiːliəreɪt/ /əˈmiːliəreɪt/ |
| he / she / it ameliorates | /əˈmiːliəreɪts/ /əˈmiːliəreɪts/ |
| past simple ameliorated | /əˈmiːliəreɪtɪd/ /əˈmiːliəreɪtɪd/ |
| past participle ameliorated | /əˈmiːliəreɪtɪd/ /əˈmiːliəreɪtɪd/ |
| -ing form ameliorating | /əˈmiːliəreɪtɪŋ/ /əˈmiːliəreɪtɪŋ/ |
- ameliorate something to make better something that was bad or not good enough
- Steps have been taken to ameliorate the situation.
- The new laws were designed to ameliorate the problem of chronic debt.
- The side-effects of the treatment can be ameliorated to some extent.
Oxford Collocations DictionaryAmeliorate is used with these nouns as the object:- condition
- effect
- situation
- …
Word Originmid 18th cent.: alteration of meliorate (of the same meaning), influenced by French améliorer, from meilleur ‘better’.Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
Check pronunciation:
ameliorate