Meanings
adjectivemeliorative (not comparable)
- not comparablerareThat meliorates; curative, improving, salutary.
Peel has no meliorative and restorative principle to propose.
1841, R. Oastler, Fleet Papers, volume I, chapter xl, page 3141 more example
We…become savage in our hatred to the various meliorative processes.
1808, G. Edwards, Pract. Plan, chapter iii, page 30
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivetending to ameliorate
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Late Latinmeliōrō“make better, improve”
- Englishmeliorative
From Late Latin meliōrō (“make better, improve”) + English -ative (“tending to”, suffix forming adjectives).
More words from Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
meliorative. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meliorative
MLA
“meliorative.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meliorative. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “meliorative,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meliorative.
Source: meliorative on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.