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to feel better

to feel better

685 1.0
Be less sick, sad or tired than before
  • phrasal verb
  • /fiːl ˈbɛtər/
translation icon : sentirse mejor
  • After taking the medicine, I started to feel better within a few hours.
  • make someone feel better
  • help someone feel better
  • feel better physically

So I teach people if you want to feel better, eat saturated fat.

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Examples

  • After a few months of treatment, she felt better and stopped the treatment.

    Academic text (2016)
  • Your training should make you feel better and not make you feel worse.

  • Have someone to help you feel better or talk to.

  • I guess you just need that to feel better about yourself.

  • It's gonna make me feel better at some point.

  • Listen, she needs other people to believe it so she can feel better about herself.

  • Would you feel better if I went out and talked to them?

  • I really hope that I feel better very soon because this sucks.

  • Many caregivers assure the patient that he or she will feel better each day.

    Academic text (2002)
  • Alerting these mothers to the positive feelings of their children might help them feel better about their efforts.

    Academic text (2008)

Synonyms

to get better
vsto feel better
573 1.0

To become healthier, more skilled, or more successful

focuses on improvement in mood emotions or physical health specifically
to cheer up
vsto feel better
  • Informal
234 1.4

To feel happier after being sad or to make someone feel happier

covers physical recovery as well as emotional improvement

Antonyms

1.0

In a less effective or more harmful way

How Well

well
142 1.0
to recover
748 2.5
to feel better
685 1.0
to sick
3 3.2

Surface Forms

feel better infinitive
feeling better present participle
feels better third person singular
felt better past participle

Morphology

feel + better

The meaning 'to experience an improvement in mood or health' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'feel' (to experience a sensation or emotion) with 'better' (more well/improved). This simple compositional pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows standard comparative adjective use, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily understand it.

Etymology

Feel better gives a simple picture: you go from feeling bad to feeling well — you feel less bad and are better. So it means 'to improve' in mood or health.