uh-MEEL-yuh-rayt
(verb) To make something better or more tolerable.
The new policy helped ameliorate tensions between departments.
Fun Fact
Ameliorate comes from the Latin melior, meaning “better.” It’s a favorite of bureaucrats, academics, and corporate copywriters, usually when they want to say “we’re fixing it” without promising too much. It often shows up in PR language when damage control is underway—but improvement is still a work in progress.
GLUHT
(noun/verb) An excessively abundant supply of something; or to supply or fill to excess.
The market glut of avocados caused prices to plummet, leaving farmers with unsold crops.
Middle English: from Old French “gloutir” meaning “to swallow,” derived from Latin “gluttire” meaning “to gulp down.”
Fun Fact
A glut isn’t always about food—though the word’s swallowing origins suggest it. Economic gluts happen when supply dramatically exceeds demand, flooding markets and crashing prices. The 1980s oil glut saw prices collapse from oversupply. Tech companies experience gluts too—remember when warehouses overflowed with unsold fidget spinners? While abundance sounds positive, a glut reveals the delicate balance between plenty and excess. Too much of anything, even something valuable, can become worthless when there’s simply too much to go around.