ameliorate
uh-MEEL-yuh-raytverbMeaning to make a bad situation better
Memory hook A MEAL-iorate: a MEAL makes it better. Grandpa Gus is cold, tired and cranky after shoveling, until Nell brings him a hot bowl of soup. A good meal can ameliorate a gloomy afternoon.
New streetlights helped ameliorate the problem of dark, lonely corners.
In context The new bus route did not end the town’s traffic problem, but it did ameliorate it: commutes that once took an hour now took forty minutes.
Similar improve, better, ease, relieve
Opposite worsen, aggravate, exacerbate
From Latin melior, “better,” by way of French améliorer, “to improve.”