better
Syllables: bet·ter/ˈbɛt.ə/UK[ˈbɛtʰ.ə]
better adjective: greater in amount or quantity. Also the comparative degree of good and well.
Adjective
better (positive good, adverb well, comparative (humorous) betterer, superlative best, or (humorous) betterest)
- Greater in amount or quantity
- “The air was still with the lonely thrill of 'now the hour is near'
And the smell of sweat was better yet than the awful stench of fear.”1972, Harvey Andrews, Hey Sandy
- “The air was still with the lonely thrill of 'now the hour is near'
- Greater or lesser (whichever is seen as more advantageous), in reference to value, distance, time, etc.
- The top electric vehicles have a range of 300 kilometres or better.
- Only one swimmer finished the race with a time better than two minutes.
- Healed or recovered from an injury or illness.
- We can't go to the zoo today because you're sick; let's go when you're all better.
Noun
better (plural betters)
- An entity, usually animate, deemed superior to another; one who has a claim to precedence; a superior.
- He quickly found Ali his better in the ring.
- Their betters would hardly be found.[1594], Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Iohn Windet, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page)
Verb (1)
better
- Had better.
- It's getting late. You better get on home.
- Nobody better hurt any of my kids.
Verb (2)
better (third-person singular simple present betters, present participle bettering, simple past and past participle bettered)
- To improve.
- attempts to better the lot of the refugees
- This government will better our society.
- To become better; to improve.
- To surpass in excellence; to exceed; to excel; to improve on.
- He summed the whole thing up in a way that I couldn't possibly better.
- The works of nature do always aim at that which can not be bettered.[1594], Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Iohn Windet, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page)
- Synonyms:
- top
- To give advantage to; to support; to advance the interest of.
- Weapons more violent, when next we meet, / May serve to better us and worse our foes.1667, John Milton, “Book VI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
Also used as
better is also the comparative degree of good and well.
better is also the comparative form of well.
better is also the alternative spelling of bettor.
better meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Sanskrit
better in Hindi
- comparative of the adjectives good or well
- बेहतर behtar
better in Urdu
- comparative of the adjectives good or well
- بہتر behtar
better in Bengali
- comparative of the adjectives good or well
- আরও ভাল arō bhalo, আফজল afjol
better in Sanskrit
- comparative of the adjectives good or well
- श्रेयस् śreyas
- comparative of the adverb well
- श्रेयस् śreyas
More languagesFewer languages
- better in Arabic
- أَفْضَل ʔafḍal, أَحْسَن ʔaḥsan, حَسَّنَ ḥassana, تَحَسَّنَ taḥassana
- better in Malay
- lebih baik, lebih bagus
- better in Indonesian
- lebih baik
- better in Persian
- بِهتَر behtar, بختر bextar, بهبودن, بهبودی
- better in Thai
- ดีกว่า dii-gwàa
- better in Vietnamese
- tốt hơn, khá hơn, khoẻ hơn
- Sindhi
- بِهتَر bitar
Examples of better in a sentence
- Nothing better've happened to the guitar I lent you!
- They tried to better themselves by attaining a good education.
- the constant effort of every man to better himself1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter III, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify...
Synonyms of better
Forms of better
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| positive | good |
| adverb | well |
| superlative | best |
| comparative (humorous) | betterer |
| humorous | betterest |
| Noun | |
| plural | betters |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | betters |
| present participle | bettering |
| past participle | bettered |
| past | bettered |
Origin of better
From Middle English better, bettre, betre, from Old English betera (“better”), from Proto-West Germanic *batiʀō, from Proto-Germanic *batizô (“better”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰed-rós, from *bʰed- (“good”). Cognate with Dutch beter, German besser, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål bedre, Norwegian Nynorsk betre, Swedish bättre, Faroese and Icelandic betri. Also Sanskrit भ॒द्र (bhadrá, “blessed; fortunate; happy; good”) (from *bʰn̥d-ró-s). Related to best and battle (“getting better; improving; fruitful; fertile”). Compare also Icelandic batna (“to improve”), bót (“improvement”), German besser. More at batten, boot. False cognate of Persian بهتر (behtar).
Shortening of had better ('d better).
From Middle English beteren, from Old English beterian, betrian, from Proto-Germanic *batizōną. Cognate with West Frisian betterje (“to better”), Dutch beteren (“to better”), German bessern (“to better”), Danish bedre (“to better”), Swedish bättra (“to better”).
Words formed from better
- better the devil you know
- had better
- 'd better
- bettern't
- get the better of
- against one's better judgment
- all to the better
- an ounce of prevention is better than an ounce of cure
- an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure
- are you feeling better
- better and better
- better an egg today than a hen tomorrow
- better angels
- better angels of one's nature
- better angels of someone's nature
- better ball
- better Dead than Red
- better for it
- betterfy
- better half
- betterhood
- betterish
- better is the enemy of good
- better-known
- better known as
- better late than never
- better light
- better luck next time
- better nature
- betterness
- better off
- better one word in time than two afterwards
- better-paid
- better part of
- better place
- better safe than sorry
- bettership
- bettersome
- better than a kick in the teeth
- better than a poke in the eye
- better than a poke in the eye with a burnt stick
- better than a poke in the eye with a rusty nail
- better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick
- better than a poke in the eye with a shitty stick
- better than nothing
- better than sex
- better the devil you know than the devil you don't
- better the devil you know than the devil you don't know
- better the devil you know than the one you don't
- better the devil you know than the one you don't know
- better to be late than be dead on time
- better to light a candle than to curse the darkness
- better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness
- better to light one candle than to curse the darkness
- better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness
- build a better mousetrap
- build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door
- discretion is the better part of valor
- discretion is the better part of valour
- do someone one better
Phrases with better
- Better Boy
- get better
- got better
- Better Boys
- better hung
- gets better
- knew better
- know better
- better built
- better known
- better loved
- known better
75 more phrasesFewer phrases
- knows better
- better halves
- better versed
- go one better
- gotten better
- better for you
- better natured
- for the better
- getting better
- knowing better
- goes one better
- gone one better
- knew any better
- know any better
- strictly better
- think better of
- went one better
- going one better
- known any better
- knows any better
- Better Boy tomato
- got the better of
- better for someone
- Better Sleep Month
- gets the better of
- knowing any better
- so much the better
- Better Boy tomatoes
- for better or worse
- gotten the better of
- getting the better of
- have seen better days
- you better believe it
- better late then never
- better safe then sorry
- did someone one better
- does someone one better
- done someone one better
- for better or for worse
- you'd better believe it
- built a better mousetrap
- doing someone one better
- builds a better mousetrap
- the fewer the better fare
- take a turn for the better
- took a turn for the better
- building a better mousetrap
- taken a turn for the better
- takes a turn for the better
- taking a turn for the better
- two heads are better than one
- no better than one ought to be
- prevention is better than cure
- half a loaf is better than none
- made a better door than a window
- make a better door than a window
- prevention is better than a cure
- something is better than nothing
- makes a better door than a window
- the grey mare is the better horse
- half a loaf is better than no loaf
- making a better door than a window
- half a loaf is better than no bread
- I couldn't of said it better myself
- the better is the enemy of the good
- I couldn't have said it better myself
- it's better to ask forgiveness than permission
- it is better to travel hopefully than to arrive
- the devil we know is better than the devil we don't
- the devil you know is better than the devil you don't
- if you believe everything you read, better not to read
- the devil we know is better than the devil we don't know
- the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know
- it's better to be judged by twelve than to be carried by six
- the devil that you know is better than the devil that you don't know
Words that rhyme with better
Questions about better
- What does better mean?
- Better means greater in amount or quantity.
- What is better in Hindi?
- Better in Hindi is बेहतर (behtar). See Better meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use better in a sentence?
- Nothing better've happened to the guitar I lent you!
- What part of speech is better?
- Better can be an adjective, a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce better?
- Better is pronounced /ˈbɛt.ə/.
Words near better in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: better (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-better.ogg.
Cite this entry: “better.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/better. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.