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The most common other words for improve are enhance, boost, refine, upgrade and develop. Which one fits depends on what is improving: a product or plan (enhance, upgrade, refine, revamp), a skill (hone, sharpen, develop, brush up on), a number (boost, raise, increase), a bad situation (fix, remedy, turn around), or something that gets better by itself, such as health or the weather (get better, pick up, recover).
Improve can mean “make something better” (“We improved the design”) or “become better” (“Her French improved”). Most synonyms do only one of these jobs, so the first thing to check is which one you need. This page groups the alternatives by meaning, adds action verbs for a CV or résumé, and ends with mistakes to avoid and a short practice set.
On this page: quick picker · make something better · improve a skill · improve numbers and results · improve a bad situation · get better by itself · résumé and CV verbs · words for an improvement · mistakes · practice · quick answers
Quick picker
| You mean… | Try | Example |
|---|---|---|
| make something better in quality | enhance, refine, upgrade, polish | The new lens enhances low-light photos. |
| make big changes so it works better | revamp, overhaul, transform, reform | The council overhauled the bus timetable. |
| make small changes | fine-tune, tweak, adjust, polish | We tweaked the wording before sending it. |
| get better at a skill | hone, sharpen, develop, brush up on | He is brushing up on his Spanish before the trip. |
| make a number go up | boost, raise, increase, lift | The ad campaign boosted sales by a fifth. |
| fix a problem | fix, remedy, rectify, put right | The update rectifies the login problem. |
| become better by itself | get better, pick up, look up, recover | Business usually picks up in December. |
| do better than before or than others | surpass, outdo, better, top | She bettered her own record by two seconds. |
Make something better
These verbs all take an object: you enhance something.
- enhance (adds to quality or value; neutral to formal): “Good lighting enhances a small room.”
- upgrade (replace with a better version, often technology or rooms): “We upgraded to a faster laptop.”
- refine (small, careful changes that make something more exact): “The team refined the recipe over three months.”
- polish (final improvements, especially writing or a performance): “Polish your speech before Friday.”
- revamp (give a new and better form; informal to neutral): “The café revamped its menu.”
- overhaul (examine and repair or change completely): “The government plans to overhaul the tax system.”
- renovate, refurbish (buildings and rooms): “They renovated an old barn.”
- strengthen (make stronger or more effective): “The new evidence strengthens her case.”
- perfect (make as good as possible): “He spent years perfecting the technique.”
- ameliorate (formal; make a bad situation less bad): “Measures to ameliorate poverty.”
Enhance suggests the thing was already good and is now better; overhaul and reform suggest it was not working well.
Improve a skill
| Verb | Shade of meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| develop | build a skill over time | The course helps students develop critical thinking. |
| hone | sharpen an already good skill to a high level | She honed her negotiating skills in sales. |
| sharpen | make quicker or more precise | Puzzles can sharpen your problem-solving. |
| brush up on | refresh something you once knew | I need to brush up on my maths for the test. |
| build (up) | increase step by step | Short daily runs build up stamina. |
| work on | practise something weak | I’m working on my pronunciation. |
| expand, broaden | increase range (knowledge, vocabulary) | Reading widely broadens your vocabulary. |
Improve numbers and results
- boost (informal to neutral; a quick rise): “Free delivery boosted online orders.”
- raise, increase, lift: “The school raised its pass rate to 92%.”
- maximise (make as large as possible): “Plant in spring to maximise the harvest.”
- optimise (make as efficient as possible): “We optimised the website for mobile.”
- accelerate (make faster): “The grant will accelerate the research.”
Use these only when the improvement really is a rise. Lower prices, fewer errors and shorter waits are improvements too, but you cut, reduce or shorten them.
Improve a bad situation
- fix, sort out (everyday): “Can you sort out the Wi-Fi?”
- remedy, rectify (formal): “The company must rectify the fault within 30 days.”
- put right: “We’ll put the mistake right straight away.”
- turn around (a failing business, team or school): “The new head turned the school around in two years.”
- ease, relieve (make pain or pressure less): “The new road should ease congestion.”
- mend (relations or objects): “They tried to mend their friendship.”
Get better by itself
These verbs have no object: the subject itself improves.
| Verb | Used for | Example |
|---|---|---|
| get better | almost anything (everyday) | The weather is supposed to get better tomorrow. |
| pick up | business, sales, the economy, weather | Trade picked up after the holidays. |
| look up | a general situation (informal) | Things are finally looking up. |
| recover, recuperate | health; markets | He is recovering well after the operation. |
| rally | health or prices, after a fall | Shares rallied in the afternoon. |
| progress, come along | work, learning, a patient | How is your thesis coming along? |
| mature | people, wine, ideas over time | He has matured a lot since school. |
For kind ways to wish someone a recovery, see other ways to say feel better.
Résumé and CV verbs instead of “improved”
Recruiters read many résumés that say “improved processes”. A more exact verb plus a real result is stronger: “Streamlined invoicing, cutting payment time from 30 to 18 days.” Choose a verb that matches what you actually did, and give only figures you can stand behind.
| What you did | Verbs |
|---|---|
| made a process faster or simpler | streamlined, simplified, automated, accelerated |
| made a product or service better | enhanced, upgraded, redesigned, refined |
| changed something that was failing | revitalised, turned around, restructured, overhauled |
| raised a number | increased, grew, boosted, expanded |
| made something cheaper or more efficient | reduced (costs), optimised, consolidated |
| made people better at their jobs | trained, coached, mentored, upskilled |
Words for an improvement
- upgrade, enhancement (a feature or version): “The update brings several enhancements.”
- progress, headway (movement towards a goal): “We’re making headway on the report.”
- a step forward, a step up: “The new stadium is a big step up.”
- a turnaround, a recovery: “an impressive turnaround in sales”
- reform (of laws or systems): “prison reform“
Idioms such as turn over a new leaf and go from strength to strength are collected in idioms for making things better.
Mistakes to avoid
- “My English enhanced.” Enhance needs an object. Say “My English improved” or “The course enhanced my English.”
- “Improve on” vs “improve”. “Improve on” (or “improve upon”) means do better than an earlier version or result: “It will be hard to improve on last year’s score.” Without on, you are improving the thing itself.
- Ameliorate for everyday speech. It is correct but sounds stiff outside formal writing; “make it better” or “ease” is usually clearer.
- Boost for slow, steady change. Boost suggests a quick lift. For gradual change, say “steadily improved” or “built up”.
- “Better” as a verb. It exists (“She bettered the record”), but in most sentences “improve” or “beat” is more natural.
Practice
Choose the best word for each sentence.
- After a slow summer, sales began to (pick up / hone).
- She wants to (brush up on / boost) her German before the interview.
- The software update (rectifies / recuperates) a security flaw.
- The new owners completely (overhauled / matured) the hotel.
- He is (recovering / enhancing) well after the accident.
- The marketing campaign (boosted / refined) website traffic by 40%.
Answers: 1 pick up; 2 brush up on; 3 rectifies; 4 overhauled; 5 recovering; 6 boosted.
Quick answers
What is a formal word for improve?
Enhance (quality), ameliorate (a bad situation), rectify (a fault), and optimise (efficiency) all sound formal. In most formal writing, improve itself is perfectly acceptable.
What is the opposite of improve?
Worsen, deteriorate and decline (become worse), or damage, harm and impair (make worse). “His health deteriorated” is the opposite of “his health improved”.
What is another word for “improve yourself”?
Develop yourself, better yourself, grow, or work on yourself. In an interview, it is stronger to name the skill: “I took an evening course to strengthen my data skills.”
For more ways to talk about growth and support, see another word for encourage and another word for create.