Synonyms of help

help 1 of 2

verb

ˈhelp 

1

as in to assist

to provide (someone) with what is useful or necessary to achieve an end

offered to help her widowed father when he moved into an apartment

Synonyms & Similar Words

• assist
• aid
• support
• reinforce
• encourage
• save
• facilitate
• back
• promote
• abet
• bolster
• guide
• bear a hand
• prop (up)
• forward
• endorse
• serve
• backstop
• comfort
• further
• rescue
• foster
• benefit
• sponsor
• attend
• advise
• to stand one in good stead
• sustain
• launch
• ease
• patronize
• advance
• succor
• minister (to)
• champion
• mentor
• boost
• nurture
• care (for)
• counsel
• buttress
• oblige
• profit
• bail out
• embolden
• hearten
• deliver
• favor

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• hinder
• restrain
• interfere
• impede
• inhibit
• constrain
• hamper
• oppose
• thwart
• fail
• obstruct
• block
• frustrate
• hold back
• bar
• strangle
• balk
• discourage
• sabotage
• handicap
• disappoint
• baffle
• let down
• inconvenience
• foil
• hurt
• desert
• stifle
• harm
• retard
• repress
• injure
• damage
• dishearten
• stunt
• straiten

2

as in to alleviate

to make more bearable or less severe

the new ointment didn't help Josh's sunburn one bit

Synonyms & Similar Words

• alleviate
• relieve
• soothe
• ease
• mitigate
• soften
• improve
• allay
• heal
• assuage
• cure
• enhance
• mollify
• palliate
• remedy
• lighten
• temper
• better
• fix
• moderate
• correct
• rectify
• repair
• amend
• abate
• perfect
• refine
• enrich
• ameliorate
• reform
• mend
• emend
• meliorate

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• hurt
• impair
• harm
• injure
• aggravate
• exacerbate
• intensify
• sharpen
• heighten

3

as in to prevent

to keep from happening by taking action in advance

they couldn't help the way things turned out

Synonyms & Similar Words

• prevent
• avert
• preclude
• avoid
• provide
• obviate
• forestall
• head off
• escape
• anticipate
• save
• stave off
• deter
• hinder
• evade
• thwart
• neutralize
• shake
• impede
• nullify
• frustrate
• stop
• hamper
• elude
• deflect
• interfere (with)
• negate
• forbid
• retard
• balk
• prohibit
• offset
• counteract
• shun
• eschew
• check
• compensate (for)
• make up (for)
• ward (off)
• circumvent
• fend (off)
• inhibit
• stall
• block
• counterbalance
• baffle
• foil
• halt
• dodge
• arrest
• bar
• checkmate
• shirk
• duck

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• assist
• aid
• facilitate
• encourage
• ease
• promote
• let
• forward
• abet
• smooth
• foster
• allow
• advance
• leave
• cultivate
• further
• permit
• unclog
• nurture

4

as in to benefit

to provide with something useful or desirable

being independently wealthy certainly helped him during his years as a struggling young artist

Synonyms & Similar Words

• benefit
• avail
• assist
• serve
• advantage
• profit
• aid
• improve
• succeed
• please
• work (for)
• better
• satisfy
• bless
• content
• delight
• gratify
• gladden

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• hinder
• impede
• hurt
• impair
• harm
• injure
• damage
• distress
• upset
• afflict

5

as in to improve

to make better

some minor revisions would help this essay immensely

Synonyms & Similar Words

• improve
• enhance
• better
• refine
• perfect
• enrich
• ameliorate
• amend
• remedy
• remediate
• upgrade
• reinforce
• strengthen
• rectify
• meliorate
• correct
• intensify
• rehabilitate
• revise
• reform
• boost
• edit
• fine-tune
• refurbish
• fortify
• rework
• revamp
• fine
• hone
• emend
• polish
• rehab
• beef (up)
• redraft
• touch up
• retouch

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• hurt
• worsen
• harm
• impair
• injure
• spoil
• damage
• reduce
• vitiate
• tarnish
• diminish
• flaw
• disfigure
• lessen
• blight
• deface
• mar
• endamage
• lower
• blemish

help

2 of 2

noun

1

as in assist

an act or instance of helping

I could use your help getting this tire back on the car

Synonyms & Similar Words

• assist
• assistance
• support
• boost
• aid
• lift
• encouragement
• advice
• hand
• backing
• helping hand
• guidance
• service
• leg up
• kindness
• abetment
• promotion
• facilitation
• attention
• advancement
• furtherance
• forwarding
• sponsorship
• care
• counsel
• mentoring
• patronage
• nurturance
• attendance
• furthering
• relief
• favor
• succor
• benefaction
• beneficence
• charity
• hand-holding
• philanthropy
• assuagement
• palliation

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• interference
• hindrance
• obstruction
• restraint
• inhibition
• frustration
• repression
• constraint
• deterrence
• discouragement

2

as in benefit

a thing that helps

the computer is a great help for writing reports

Synonyms & Similar Words

• benefit
• advantage
• asset
• aid
• boon
• support
• resource
• lift
• blessing
• sustenance
• pick-me-up
• hand
• recourse
• refuge
• godsend
• resort
• windfall

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• hindrance
• disadvantage
• impediment
• drawback
• minus
• obstacle
• restraint
• liability
• encumbrance
• obstruction
• constraint
• inhibitor
• stranglehold

3

as in staff

a body of persons at work or available for work

it's so hard to get good help these days

Synonyms & Similar Words

• staff
• manpower
• workforce
• pool
• personnel
• crew
• labor force
• force
• worker
• employee
• support
• team
• company
• helper
• labor
• squad
• band
• party
• gang
• proletariat
• rank and file
• blood
• outfit
• hireling

Synonym Chooser

How is the word help distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of help are ameliorate, better, and improve. While all these words mean "to make more acceptable or to bring nearer a standard," help implies a bettering that still leaves room for improvement.

a coat of paint would help that house

In what contexts can ameliorate take the place of help?

Although the words ameliorate and help have much in common, ameliorate implies making more tolerable or acceptable conditions that are hard to endure.

tried to ameliorate the lives of people in the tenements

How do improve and better relate to one another, in the sense of help?

Both 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

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of help

Verb

Odysseus counters that his lie helped win them the Trojan War, but Sinon fires back, saying that gives him no comfort when he is forced to wander among the dead. — Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 19 July 2026

In recent years, Michel Kohl, a wildlife biologist at the University of Georgia, has helped lead studies on black vulture migration. — Andrew Carter, Chicago Tribune, 19 July 2026

Noun

There were earthquake survivors who feared calling out for help in the language, in case the rescuers turned away. — Nikhil Krishnan, New Yorker, 20 July 2026

The accounts of Massie and the father in Duluth help explain the world Lynn and Katherine have spent years trying to make sense of. — Jeremy Kohler, ProPublica, 20 July 2026