ameliorate
to make better or less bad
Root
- melior: better
Other words with the melior root
- amelioration: the act or process of making something better
- ameliorative: improving or meant to make better
- meliorism: belief that the world can be improved
Melior points toward better. To ameliorate is not to make perfect; it is to make a bad situation better than it was.
The new tutoring plan helped ameliorate the confusion students felt before the exam.
Ameliorate is a relief word. It does not promise magic. It promises movement toward better.
That makes it different from solve. You can ameliorate pain, confusion, poverty, tension, or damage even when you cannot erase it completely.