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improver

C2
noun

Pronunciation

UK

  • /ɪmprˈuːvə/

US

  • /ɪmˈpruːvər/noun
  • /ˈɪmprɑvər/noun

Description

An improver is not always a person. It can also be something that helps make another thing better. You might talk about an improver in a broad sense as a person who works to make a place, skill, or system better. In a more fixed use, the word often appears in phrases such as "bread improver," which means an ingredient added to dough to help its texture, strength, or rise.

The word usually suggests purposeful effort. Things do not simply get better by chance; a person, tool, or substance plays a part in making them better. A careful gardener can be seen as an improver of the land, and the word can also be used lightly or playfully for someone who thinks they can make almost anything better.

Examples

  1. 1

    Learning skill

    She's a quick improver, so she picked up the piano faster than anyone expected.

  2. 2

    Sports performance

    The coach called him the team's biggest improver after a strong second half of the season.

    • Phrase

      biggest improver

      the person who has improved the most

  3. 3

    Gardening

    Garden compost works as a soil improver as well as a source of nutrients.

    • Domain

      soil improver

      something added to soil to make it better for plants

Forms and spellings

1 form open this card.

Main spelling

  • improvernoun