amelioration
Other forms: ameliorations
Amelioration is a process that makes something better. A philanthropist might devote her life to the amelioration of poverty and hunger.
Any time there's amelioration, something negative is becoming more positive. If your landlord improves the water pressure and lowers the rent, that's amelioration. Often this word has to do with words themselves and how some change in meaning over the years, becoming more positive. A good example is terrific, which once meant "causing terror" and now means "wonderful" or "awesome." Through amelioration, terrific went from a negative meaning to a positive one.
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the act of relieving ills and changing for the bettersynonyms: betterment, meliorationtype of:improvementthe act of improving something
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Vocabulary lists containing amelioration
Gregor Samsa wakes up to find that he has transformed into a monstrous insect. Learn these words from Kafka's exploration of alienation, and conformity.
In this famous essay, Emerson argues against conformity and suggests that individuals must rely on their on their own ideas. Here are links to our lists for other works by Ralph Waldo Emerson: Nature, The Young American
In this collection of twelve essays, the leader of New England's transcendentalist movement shares his philosophical ideas on different aspects of mid-nineteenth-century life. Read the full text here.