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Glite Dictionary
to get better

to get better

573 1.0
To become healthier, more skilled, or more successful
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : mejorar
  • People in all cultures want to understand and to get better at what they do.
  • things get better
  • patients get better
  • get better results

Everything sucks and it'll never get better and more.

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Examples

  • "With continued practice, he believed he could get better at playing the guitar."

  • And if we keep doing so, I think things will get better, slowly but surely.

  • Just know that things get better, Life will get better.

    Sarah Rae Vargas

  • And because the product gets better, more people use it.

    Lex Fridman

  • Please, just tell me so maybe I can get better.

    Pearl (2022)

  • Are you pleased with the way we're getting better?

    David Beckham: Infamous (2022)

  • Things are going to get better guaranteed, trust me.

    IMPAULSIVE

  • We show them how to embrace and grow from feedback to get better at a task rather than feel criticized.

    Academic text (2015)

  • "After taking the medicine, I felt that I would get better soon."

  • "As the weather improves, we hope the economy will get better as well."

Synonyms

to improve
vsto get better
∞ 1.0

To make something better

is the common phrasal form used to say becoming better in casual speech
to polish up
vsto get better
  • Informal
4 3.5

Make something better by practicing or fixing it

is broader and means general improvement in condition or situation

Antonyms

to get worse
390 2.5

To become more serious, often about health or a situation

to decline
344 3.7

To become less over time, for example in value or health

How Improved

to recover
748 2.5
to get better
573 1.0
to worsen
61 3.9

Surface Forms

get better infinitive
getting better present participle
gets better third person singular
got better past
got better past participle

Morphology

get + better

The phrase is compositional: 'get' here marks a change of state and 'better' is the comparative/adjective meaning 'more well/improved', so together they transparently mean 'become improved'. This verb + comparative construction is common across languages and in English, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can reliably infer the meaning.

Etymology

The phrasal verb get better comes from a simple image: get (to move or reach) and better (a healthier or improved state). Imagine a sick or weak person moving from feeling bad toward feeling well — that image explains why get better means 'to improve' or 'to get well'.