improvement
noun
Simple meaning
A change that makes something better than it was.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ihmproovmuhntSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɪmpˈɹuvmənt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The act of improving; advancement or growth; a bettering
“Their improvements increased the value of the property.”
The state of being improved; betterment; advance
Increase; growth; progress; advance.
The act of making profitable use or application of anything, or the state of being profitably employed; practical application, for example of a doctrine, principle, or theory, stated in a discourse.
in the plural
Valuable additions or betterments, for example buildings, clearings, drains, fences, etc., on premises.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The act of improving; advancement or growth; a bettering
Used this way, improvement is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“Their improvements increased the value of the property.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use improvement
- “Their improvements increased the value of the property.”noun
- “The new school represents a great improvement.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The act of improving yourself.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.