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Reinforce vs Improve - What's the difference?

reinforce | improve |

In transitive terms the difference between reinforce and improve

is that reinforce is to encourage a behavior or idea through repeated stimulus while improve is to make (something) better; to increase the value or productivity (of something).

reinforce

English

Verb

(reinforc)
  • (senseid)To strengthen, especially by addition or augmentation.
  • He reinforced the handle with a metal rod and a bit of tape.
  • To emphasize or review.
  • The right homework will reinforce and complement the lesson!
  • To encourage a behavior or idea through repeated stimulus.
  • ''Advertising for fast food can reinforce unhealthy dietary tendencies.

    Synonyms

    * (l) * (l) * (strengthen) strengthen, augment, fortify, buttress, bolster, line * (emphasize) emphasize, review, repeat * (encourage) encourage, reward, instruct, teach, learn

    improve

    English

    Alternative forms

    * emprove (obsolete)

    Verb

    (improv)
  • (lb) To make (something) better; to increase the value or productivity (of something).
  • :
  • :
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=70, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Engineers of a different kind , passage=Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. Piling debt onto companies’ balance-sheets is only a small part of what leveraged buy-outs are about, they insist. Improving the workings of the businesses they take over is just as core to their calling, if not more so. Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster.}}
  • (lb) To become better.
  • :
  • :
  • *
  • *:“My Continental prominence is improving ,” I commented dryly. ¶ Von Lindowe cut at a furze bush with his silver-mounted rattan. ¶ “Quite so,” he said as dryly, his hand at his mustache. “I may say if your intentions were known your life would not be worth a curse.”
  • (lb) To disprove or make void; to refute.
  • *(William Tyndale) (1494-1536)
  • *:Neither can any of them make so strong a reason which another cannot improve .
  • (lb) To disapprove of; to find fault with; to reprove; to censure.
  • :
  • :(Chapman)
  • *(William Tyndale) (1494-1536)
  • *:When he rehearsed his preachings and his doing unto the high apostles, they could improve nothing.
  • (lb) To use or employ to good purpose; to turn to profitable account.
  • :
  • *(Isaac Barrow) (1630-1677)
  • *:We shall especially honour God by improving diligently the talents which God hath committed to us.
  • *(Joseph Addison) (1672-1719)
  • *:a hint that I do not remember to have seen opened and improved
  • *(William Blackstone) (1723-1780)
  • *:The court seldom fails to improve the opportunity.
  • *(Isaac Watts) (1674-1748)
  • *:How doth the little busy bee / Improve each shining hour.
  • *(George Washington) (1732-1799)
  • *:True policy, as well as good faith, in my opinion, binds us to improve the occasion.
  • Synonyms

    * (to make something better) ameliorate, better, batten, enhance * See also

    Antonyms

    * (to make something worse) deteriorate, worsen * (to become worse) deteriorate, worsen

    Derived terms

    * improvement