Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To make better; improve.
  • intransitive verb To grow better.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To make better; improve; ameliorate.
  • To grow better; be improved.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To grow better.
  • transitive verb To make better; to improve; to ameliorate; to soften; to make more tolerable.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To make better, to improve; to heal or solve a problem.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb to make better
  • verb get better

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin meliōrāre, meliōrāt-, from melior, better; see mel- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin melior "better"

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Examples

  • So there are some meliorate locate a fleur de lys?

    Ornament Serenity | SciFi, Fantasy & Horror Collectibles 2009

  • But surely no one expects readers to be converted to Nazism or sadomasochism through Aue's account of himself, either, so one must conclude that Franklin's and Bukiet's dislike of an "unremitting immersion in Aue's worldview" has been converted into a general critical requirement that bad people as depicted in fiction must be "counteracted" by a "philosophical or artistic" effort to meliorate their evil.

    Point of View in Fiction 2009

  • But surely no one expects readers to be converted to Nazism or sadomasochism through Aue's account of himself, either, so one must conclude that Franklin's and Bukiet's dislike of an "unremitting immersion in Aue's worldview" has been converted into a general critical requirement that bad people as depicted in fiction must be "counteracted" by a "philosophical or artistic" effort to meliorate their evil.

    December 2009 2009

  • But surely no one expects readers to be converted to Nazism or sadomasochism through Aue's account of himself, either, so one must conclude that Franklin's and Bukiet's dislike of an "unremitting immersion in Aue's worldview" has been converted into a general critical requirement that bad people as depicted in fiction must be "counteracted" by a "philosophical or artistic" effort to meliorate their evil.

    Translated Texts 2010

  • But surely no one expects readers to be converted to Nazism or sadomasochism through Aue's account of himself, either, so one must conclude that Franklin's and Bukiet's dislike of an "unremitting immersion in Aue's worldview" has been converted into a general critical requirement that bad people as depicted in fiction must be "counteracted" by a "philosophical or artistic" effort to meliorate their evil.

    Furies 2009

  • Curiously, with options meliorate duty ornamental alikeness serenity and calm.

    Ornament Serenity | SciFi, Fantasy & Horror Collectibles 2009

  • Washington's foreign policy of late has sought, with the clear exceptions of Iraq and Afghanistan, to avoid confrontation and to attempt to meliorate global challenges.

    Angsty Allies 2010

  • Psychological trauma and other serious mental health issues clearly go beyond their abilities and training to treat and meliorate.

    William Astore: In Place of Mental Health Care, Are Some Troops Being Evangelized? 2010

  • While gender inequality is a very hard thing to change, the following projects could be done to help meliorate this gender imbalance:

    Archive 2009-02-01 laura b 2009

  • While gender inequality is a very hard thing to change, the following projects could be done to help meliorate this gender imbalance:

    What am I doing here? laura b 2009

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