improve on

verb

variants or improve upon

improved on or improved upon; improving on or improving upon; improves on or improves upon

transitive verb

: to do better than

It's hard to improve on last year's record.

Examples of improve on in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Last spring, our students improved on STAAR across grades 3 through 12, outpacing the state, with double-digit gains in some high school subjects. — Lina Ruiz, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5 Nov. 2026

Holscher won Wyandotte County by a stunning 46% margin, netting about 19,600 votes and again improving on Kelly’s margins from 2018 and 2022. — Chris Higgins, Kansas City Star, 4 Nov. 2026

Flanagan improves on both De Palma’s film and King’s novel in his treatment of faith, embodied in Carrie’s mother, Margaret White. — ArsTechnica, 21 Oct. 2026

Maybe not the way Santa Margarita, the defending champion, is improving on a weekly basis similar to last season when the Eagles separated themselves and cruised to victory. — Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1618, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for improve on

• agamemnon
• automaton
• diencephalon
• panopticon
• phenomenon
• aileron
• antiphon
• autobahn
• carillon
• castellan
• celadon
• cephalon