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Definitions

better

[bet-er] / ˈbɛt ər /


ADJECTIVE
larger
Synonyms
Antonyms
WEAK






Usage

What are other ways to say improve? To better is to improve conditions which, though not bad, are unsatisfying: to better an attempt, oneself (as by gaining a higher salary). Improve usually implies remedying a lack or a felt need: to improve a process, oneself (as by gaining more knowledge). The more formal verb ameliorate implies improving oppressive, unjust, or difficult conditions: to ameliorate working conditions.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Anything would be better than his run-heavy scheme stunting quarterback Justin Herbert’s anticipated ascension.

From Los Angeles Times Sep. 21, 2026

Industry representative body Airlines UK said both passengers and airlines "deserve better" after "yet another Nats failure".

From BBC Sep. 21, 2026

Addressing this challenge and finding better ways to bring employees on board with AI transformations was also a key theme at the WSJ Leadership Institute’s Technology Council Summit in New York last week.

From The Wall Street Journal Sep. 21, 2026

Investors are getting a better idea of what that looks like with Muse.

From MarketWatch Sep. 21, 2026

"In better shape than his owner," Sancho replied.

From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios

Now, 12 years and many political lifetimes later, they read as quaint and out-of-touch, like a grandfather telling his grandson to never contradict his betters.

From Salon Aug. 20, 2026

His betters resented Duchamp’s attempt at depicting movement and judged the title vulgar.

From The Wall Street Journal Jun. 12, 2026

This week: Polymarket teamed up with the Golden Globes, displaying a live ticker for betters on the broadcast.

From Slate Jan. 17, 2026

Billions are riding on such sports event contracts, and it isn’t just the wagers of individual betters.

From Barron's Nov. 6, 2025

"Small boys should learn that it is a big mistake to try playing tricks on their betters to gain attention."

From "Rowan of Rin" by Emily Rodda

That performance, bettered only by leading pair Adrianna Sulek-Schubert of Poland and Ireland's Kate O'Connor, followed a time of 14 seconds flat in the 100m hurdles which ranked 15th overall.

From BBC Aug. 14, 2026

His Premier League win percentage of 46.9% at the club is bettered only by Kevin Keegan.

From BBC Jul. 30, 2026

Among NL pitchers with at least 70 innings, his ERA is bettered only by Misiorowski.

From Los Angeles Times Jun. 30, 2026

She is surely on course to break her major duck sometime soon and in California last Sunday it was only the brilliance of a dominant world number one that bettered the British star.

From BBC Jun. 8, 2026

I’d sat shotgun because I thought it bettered our chances of surviving a head-on car crash if both of my parents weren’t in the front.

From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera

She said Chinese biotechs have “gotten very good with pretty-well-known targets—in bettering them, in really getting more precise.”

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 10, 2026

Abdul Hammed currently works at a warehouse, but the 33-year-old has come to the apprenticeship fair in the hope of bettering himself.

From BBC Feb. 16, 2026

And not to the exclusion of bettering their lives by paying attention to the nitty and the gritty, like making housing and higher education more readily available and, yes, fixing potholes.

From Los Angeles Times Feb. 8, 2026

Well, then you know how truly committed they were to bettering L.A. in the first place.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 7, 2025

At all these studies Ged was apt, and within a month was bettering lads who had been a year at Roke before him.

From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin




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