1
as in surpassed
to be greater, better, or stronger than
this year's profits should better last year's by a wide margin
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in improved
to make better
social workers and reformers trying to better the lives of inner-city residents
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of bettered
Conte hit 93 points, a total bettered only by Mourinho in a debut Premier League season, as mentioned earlier.
—
James Horncastle, New York Times, 27 Jan. 2026
Meanwhile, majorities said the Republican president has definitely or probably not improved the functioning of government (59%) or bettered the nation’s standing on the world stage (60%).
—Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald, 9 Oct. 2025
Over the past two seasons, the Swede has scored 44 goals in the Premier League, a tally bettered only by Salah and Erling Haaland with 47 and 49 respectively.
—Dan Cancian, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
James Horncastle, New York Times, 27 Jan. 2026
Meanwhile, majorities said the Republican president has definitely or probably not improved the functioning of government (59%) or bettered the nation’s standing on the world stage (60%).
—Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald, 9 Oct. 2025
Over the past two seasons, the Swede has scored 44 goals in the Premier League, a tally bettered only by Salah and Erling Haaland with 47 and 49 respectively.
—Dan Cancian, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bettered
Verb
-
The initial target of $50,000 has long been surpassed, with the total now sitting at $60,000.—
Ben Church,
CNN Money,
6 Feb. 2026
-
However, Qualcomm surpassed earnings and revenue expectations for the fiscal first quarter.—
Jason Gewirtz,
CNBC,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The crucial employment snapshot is slightly delayed because of the brief government shutdown and will show whether the trajectory improved for the US labor market, which has been stuck in a low-hire and low-fire lull.—
Alicia Wallace,
CNN Money,
11 Feb. 2026
-
Jimmy Wales, the site’s other co-founder, has also been in the news, promoting his new book, The Seven Rules of Trust, which argues that society would be greatly improved if more people and organizations adopted the Wikipedia ethos.—
Imogen West-Knights,
The Dial,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
While the scale of violence exceeded expectations, the belief that international support was imminent undeniably emboldened many protesters.—
Pegah Banihashemi,
Chicago Tribune,
15 Feb. 2026
-
For the first time, in 2025, the demand for non-American, non-Western, non-English-language content exceeded 50 percent of the global revenue pie.—
Patrick Brzeski,
HollywoodReporter,
15 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
How has being in love enhanced your artistic practice?—
Cierra Black,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Feb. 2026
-
This investment ensures smaller class sizes, competitive pay for educators and staff (at least $20/hour), enhanced school safety and robust support for early childhood and higher education.—
Mary Ramsey,
Charlotte Observer,
13 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
In an instant, our shaky courtroom sketch of Pearl the flighty young mother, Pearl the drunk, gets burned up and eclipsed by Pearl the mystic.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Feb. 2026
-
That dramatic view will only be visible from a remote part of Antarctica, where up to 96% of the sun will be eclipsed for a little over 2 minutes — meaning very few people on Earth will witness annularity in person.—
Daisy Dobrijevic,
Space.com,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The Midas Project also claims that OpenAI cannot definitively prove the model lacks the autonomy required for the extra measures, as the company’s previous, less advanced model already topped global benchmarks for autonomous task completion.—
Beatrice Nolan,
Fortune,
10 Feb. 2026
-
The designer introduced Daisy fragrance in 2007, packaging the scent in bottles topped with oversized white flowers that have since spawned a long-running series of flankers and remain a core pillar of the brand’s beauty business.—
Maggie Clancy,
Footwear News,
10 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bettered.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bettered. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
