better

1 of 5

adjective

bet·​ter ˈbe-tər How to pronounce better (audio)

comparative of good

1
: greater than half
for the better part of an hour
2
: improved in health or mental attitude
feeling better
3
: more attractive, favorable, or commendable
in better circumstances
4
: more advantageous or effective
a better solution
5
: improved in accuracy or performance
building a better engine

better

2 of 5

verb

bettered; bettering; betters

transitive verb

1
: to make better (see better entry 1): such as
a
: to make more tolerable or acceptable
trying to better the lot of slum dwellers
b
: to make more complete or perfect
looked forward to bettering her acquaintance with the new neighbors
2
: to surpass in excellence : excel
bettered his personal record by nearly three seconds

intransitive verb

: to become better
… must be bettering instead of worsening.Thomas Carlyle

better

3 of 5

adverb

comparative of well

1
a
: in a more excellent manner
sings better than I do
b
: to greater advantage : preferably
some things are better left unsaid
2
a
: to a higher or greater degree
he knows the story better than you do
b
: more
it is better than nine miles to the next town

better

4 of 5

noun

1
a
: something better (see better entry 1)
I expected better from them
b
: a superior especially in merit or rank
was respectful of his betters
2
: advantage, victory
get the better of her

better

5 of 5

auxiliary verb

: had better (see better entry 3 sense 1b)
you better hurry
Choose the Right Synonym for better

improve, better, help, ameliorate mean to make more acceptable or to bring nearer a standard.

improve and better are general and interchangeable and apply to what can be made better whether it is good or bad.

measures to further improve the quality of medical care
immigrants hoping to better their lot

help implies a bettering that still leaves room for improvement.

a coat of paint would help that house

ameliorate implies making more tolerable or acceptable conditions that are hard to endure.

tried to ameliorate the lives of people in the tenements

Examples of better in a Sentence

Adjective Her second book is better than her first one. This one is no better than that one. She's a better golfer than I am. He's a better singer than he is an actor. He's much better with children now that he's a father himself. The weather is better today than it was yesterday. They came up with a better solution to the problem. Don't you have something better to do than to watch TV all day? Her work wasn't that good at first, but it's getting better. Her work just keeps getting better and better. Verb They are trying to better the lives of working people. He looked forward to bettering his acquaintance with the new neighbors. The team has bettered its chances of winning the championship. She bettered her previous performance. He set a record that has never been equaled or bettered. Adverb “How is she doing in school?” “She did badly at first, but now she's doing much better.” She sings better than I do. He sings better than he acts. “Instead of writing to her, I'm going to visit her in person.” “Even better.” He knows the story much better than you do. Her paintings have become better known in recent years. There's nothing I'd like better than to see you again. Noun They shouldn't treat him that way. He deserves better. be polite to your betters and to your inferiors in equal measure
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
And that same place gives the Eagles, 49ers and Cowboys better odds of winning the Super Bowl than the Lions at plus-2,000. Kirkland Crawford, Detroit Free Press, 20 July 2023 Implementing better protocol for detection and providing translation services to parents in these areas is essential so they can get diagnosed and referred, said Beckerman. Nada Hassanein, USA TODAY, 8 Feb. 2023 On Tuesday Biden touted increases in Border Patrol staffing and also increased fentanyl seizures at the border, which officials have said shows that apprehension is getting better. Adam Shaw, Fox News, 8 Feb. 2023 The White House, ahead of the speech, paired police reform with bringing down violence, suggesting that giving police better training tools could lead to less crime nationwide. Zeke Miller and, BostonGlobe.com, 7 Feb. 2023 But Democrats and other critics said the state could use the $10 million for better purposes and questioned how it would be determined that migrants voluntarily agreed to be transported. Jim Saunders, Sun Sentinel, 7 Feb. 2023 Despite his better instincts, a 20-year-old man went to a Gary apartment complex on Nov. 2, 2017 to sell 1.5 ounces of marijuana to his co-worker. Meredith Colias-Pete and Rebecca Jacobs, Chicago Tribune, 7 Feb. 2023 Migrants who come to the U.S. to find work are now being hired more quickly, at higher pay and under better working conditions than at any time in recent memory. Santiago Pérez and Michelle Hackman, WSJ, 7 Feb. 2023 German measles are better and more accurately known now as rubella. Scott Lafee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Feb. 2023
Verb
Elon Musk accused Sam Altman and OpenAI of pursuing profit over bettering humanity in a new breach of contract lawsuit filed in San Francisco Superior Court yesterday, Feb. 29. Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 1 Mar. 2024 Public beautification efforts in downtown Louisville The partnership is also interested in bettering the physical landscape of the downtown district. Matthew Glowicki, The Courier-Journal, 23 Feb. 2024 This also includes our teammates, as bettering the lives of those around us is important to not just their growth but the company's and your own. Andrew Limouris, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2024 Some of America’s greatest accomplishments were done by the descendants of poor immigrants wishing to better their lives and the lives of their children. Charlotte Observer, 13 Feb. 2024 Though Earth Day is just one day, many take the initiative throughout the year to better our planet. Olivia Munson, USA TODAY, 6 Feb. 2024 In the last decade, more than 3,000 apartments have been added to the downtown area as the city seeks to better balance office workers — slow to return after the pandemic — and those who live in the city. Kenneth R. Gosselin, Hartford Courant, 7 Jan. 2024 Right now, there's a large portion of the population that's not recognizing their mistakes, that's not working to continue to better our country. ABC News, 31 Dec. 2023 By 2013, when Acosta took a plea deal of 20 years, CDCR had cobbled together a patchwork of programs, some good, some questionable, that on paper at least, presented a pathway for motivated inmates to better themselves. Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 26 Dec. 2023
Adverb
The Institute founded in his name partners with the National Football League, Gatorade, the National Athletic Trainers' Association and others to better understand and manage heat risks to athletes. The Arizona Republic, 9 Feb. 2023 In addition, Most of the activities that hybrid employees carry out–such as focused individual tasks, asynchronous communication, and video meetings–are better done at home. Gleb Tsipursky, Fortune, 8 Feb. 2023 Vertex is funding an academic project to better understand the genetics of cystic fibrosis patients in poorer countries. Rebecca Robbins, New York Times, 7 Feb. 2023 In related news, Emma Foehringer Merchant wrote a fascinating story for Undark about researchers creating a repository of birds and bats killed at solar and wind farms, to better understand why they’re getting killed and how to prevent it. Sammy Rothstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2023 Last year, the office held listening sessions in Grove Hall, Roxbury, Mattapan, and Jamaica Plain to better understand the needs of women and gender-expansive individuals. Tiana Woodard, BostonGlobe.com, 7 Feb. 2023 The Navy is also using ships to map and scan the sea floor for all remaining parts of the balloon, so U.S. analysts can get a full picture of what types of sensors the Chinese were using and to better understand how the balloon was able to maneuver. Dallas News, 7 Feb. 2023 Renner requested documents showing communications from HCPS to better understand how the book challenges are addressed. Joshua Q. Nelson, Fox News, 7 Feb. 2023
Noun
This represents a 35% increase in individual betters, and they were expected to wager a total of $23.1 billion, a monetary increase of 44% above last year. Megan Poinski, Forbes, 12 Feb. 2024 Medill’s attempt to clean up the joint and persuade Chicago’s working class to obey its betters would soon go awry. Margaret Talbot, The New Yorker, 2 Oct. 2023 No academic himself, Carney learns the blues of the universe from one of his social betters at the all-black Dumas Club on 120th Street. Lawrence Jackson, Harper's Magazine, 10 July 2023 In these cases, there is no opportunity for betters to automatically receive the post time favorite horse. Dan Wolken, USA TODAY, 6 May 2023 That led to a pace meltdown that saw huge longshot Rich Strike storm down the stretch to victory and cash-in big for betters in the Run for the Roses. Jay Ginsbach, Forbes, 6 May 2023 Well, take comfort that your cultural betters are already scrubbing them from popular works of literature. Jeff John Roberts, Fortune Crypto, 21 Feb. 2023 That’s about double the pace of pre-coronavirus times, a surge in part explained by the transition of sports betters into day trading in the absence of live sports. David Z. Morris, Fortune, 20 May 2020 Setting aside the Escape, each of the other rivals that trailed it to the finish line has a trait or two—be it sportiness, roominess, cargo volume, or feature count—that matches or betters what the CX-5 brings to the fight. Rich Ceppos, Car and Driver, 20 Apr. 2020
Auxiliary verb
The term was first used in diplomacy in the early 1900s, when the French ambassador to Germany tried—and failed—to better his country’s deteriorating relationship with Berlin, and in 1912, when British diplomats attempted the same thing. Niall Ferguson, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024 That means getting legislation signed into law that will directly help them, securing funding that will better our Metroplex, and also serving them daily by helping them with their constituent inquiries. Eleanor Dearman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 15 Feb. 2024 Some of America’s greatest accomplishments were done by the descendants of poor immigrants wishing to better their lives and the lives of their children. Charlotte Observer, 13 Feb. 2024 This is a show about very imperfect people, whose attempts to better themselves and the world are compromised at best, and Asher—ineffectual, ashamed, self-serving—is maybe the worst of the lot. Naomi Fry, The New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2024 After canceling a string of solo North American concerts earlier this month to better his mental health, the metal musician announced several Southeast Asian shows for this spring and took to Instagram on Wednesday to explain the decision. Jack Irvin, Peoplemag, 25 Jan. 2024 But Alan McGeeney said his cousin had worked hard to better himself for the last decade, and no longer had lingering court dates or money owed. Andrea Klick, Kansas City Star, 19 Jan. 2024 By 2013, when Acosta took a plea deal of 20 years, CDCR had cobbled together a patchwork of programs, some good, some questionable, that on paper at least, presented a pathway for motivated inmates to better themselves. Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 26 Dec. 2023 In the last decade, more than 3,000 apartments have been added to the downtown area as the city seeks to better balance office workers — slow to return after the pandemic — and those who live in the city. Kenneth R. Gosselin, Hartford Courant, 7 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'better.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English betere, bettere, bettre, better, going back to Old English betera, betra, bettra, going back to Germanic *batizōn (whence also Old Frisian betera, betra, Old Saxon betara, Old High German bezziro, Old Icelandic betri, Gothic batiza), comparative degree of an otherwise unattested adjective from a base *bat-, whence also, with lengthened o-grade, *bōtō "improvement," whence Old English bōt "a making good, remedy, improvement, atonement," Old Frisian bōte "atonement, compensation," Old Saxon bōta "remedy, aid, deliverance," Old High German buoza "amendment, remedy, penance, punishment," Old Icelandic bót "remedy, atonement, compensation," Gothic bota "usefulness, profit"; *bat- perhaps going back to Indo-European *bhHd-, zero-grade of a root *bheHd-, whence also Sanskrit bhadráḥ "fortunate, blessed, delightful," Avestan hubaδra- "fortunate" (< *bhoHd-ro, with loss of H before an unaspirated voiced stop)

Note: As do other European languages, Germanic forms the comparative and superlative degrees of the adjective meaning "good" from a different base than the positive degree; compare good entry 1, best entry 1. This Indo-European etymology follows G. Kroonen, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Brill, 2009), which for the rule of H loss refers to A. Lubotsky, "Gr. pḗgnumi : Skt. pajrá- and loss of laryngeals before mediae in Indo-Iranian," Münchener Studien zur Sprachwissenschaft, Band 40 (1981), pp. 133-38. Other opinions, however, are not in favor of the connection, or agnostic. See A.L. Lloyd and O. Springer, Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Band 1, s.v. baz, where the history of the etymology is traced. M. Mayrhofer maintained that Sanskrit bhadrá- should rather be connected with bhándate "is praised, receives praise" (see Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen, Band 2 [Heidelberg, 1996], p. 244).

Verb

Middle English betteren, bettren "to improve, remedy, have the advantage," going back to Old English beterian "to improve, make better," going back to Germanic *batizōjan- (whence also Old Frisian beteria, betria "to atone, improve," Old Saxon betaron "to mend," Old High German bezzirōn "to improve, enrich," Old Icelandic betra "to improve"), verbal derivative of *batizōn better entry 1

Note: In English and other Germanic languages this verb has been augmented by re-formation from the comparative adjective. Note that evidence for the English verb is practically non-existent between Old English and ca. 1400.

Adverb

Middle English bettre, betere, derivative of betere better entry 1

Note: This formation replaces early Modern English, Middle English, and Old English bet, the original Germanic adverbial counterpart to better entry 1

Noun

Middle English bettre, betere, going back to Old English betere, noun derivative of betera, betra better entry 1

Auxiliary verb

by ellipsis from had better

First Known Use

Adjective

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Adverb

12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Auxiliary Verb

1817, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of better was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near better

Cite this Entry

“Better.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/better. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

better

1 of 4 adjective
bet·​ter ˈbet-ər How to pronounce better (audio)

comparative of good entry 1

1
: improved in health
2
: of higher quality

better

2 of 4 adverb

comparative of well

1
: in a more excellent manner
2
a
: to a higher or greater degree
knows the story better than I do
b
: more entry 2
better than an hour's drive to the lake

better

3 of 4 noun
1
a
: a better thing or state
a change for the better
b
: a superior especially in merit or rank
be respectful of your betters
2
: advantage sense 1
get the better of someone

better

4 of 4 verb
1
: to make better
2
: to be or do better than

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