✅ Worsen is a general word, which can refer to any kind of getting worse (The weather worsened overnight; Her sewing worsened when she was tired).

✅ Deteriorate suggests gradually becoming worse. It emphasizes the idea of wearing out or wearing down, even when the thing referred to can’t literally wear out (The quality of instant noodles has deteriorated; The company’s reputation had deteriorated over the years).

✅ Deteriorate is slightly more formal, although it is used more often.

Make sure your vocabulary doesn’t deteriorate with the help of Grammar Coach.

✅ Improve and advance both mean to become better. However, these words rely on different definitions of better.

✅ Improve is more general, and suggests something becoming more desirable, or increasing in quality (Good sleep improves mental health; The dress was improved by the addition of lace).

✅ Advance suggests moving forward or making progress on something, such as a political cause or scientific phenomenon (The policy will advance civil rights; This research advanced our understanding of evolution).

✅ Advance is more commonly used in the context of academia, science, or politics. In other contexts, it can sound more formal.

Advance your vocabulary with the help of these synonyms.

✅ Following describes something that comes after something else (In the following book, our hero defeats the villain).

✅ Subsequent describes something that comes after, or comes later than something else (This question will be answered in the subsequent section).

✅ Following is less formal, and suggests immediacy (On the following day they went home).

✅ While subsequent does too, it can also refer to things that happen as a consequence or because of the first thing, whether they happen immediately after or later on (Subsequent to buying the car, they went on holiday).

What events might happen subsequent to a trip to the hardware store? Write about them with the help of Grammar Coach.