You Can Only Enhance Something That Is Already There
To enhance is to raise the quality of something that already exists. That is the difference between enhancing and simply improving.
To enhance something is to make it better, greater or more intense — but the word assumes a starting point. You enhance a flavour, a photograph, a reputation. You do not enhance something that is missing; you add it. The Old French root means to raise, and raising needs something to lift.
- To increase quality or value. *Enhance the flavour with lemon.*
- To improve an image or signal. *Enhanced satellite images.*
- To make more attractive. *Good lighting enhances the room.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | enhance | Enhance the effect. |
| Past | enhanced | An enhanced version. |
| Noun | enhancement | A small enhancement. |
| Adjective | enhancing | Performance-enhancing. |
| Related | augment | Augment the team. |
How it is used in a sentence
- A little salt enhances the sweetness.The quality is there; salt lifts it.
- The award enhanced her standing in the field.Enhance suits reputation well.
- Performance-enhancing drugs are banned in competition.A fixed compound in sport.
Enhance, improve, augment and boost
- Enhance — raise the quality of something already good
- Improve — make better, including fixing something bad
- Augment — add to the amount
- Boost — increase quickly, often temporarily
- Embellish — add decoration, and sometimes untruth
From Anglo-Norman *enhauncer*, to raise, ultimately from Latin *altus*, high. Its earliest English senses were about raising prices and raising a person's rank.
Can you enhance a problem?
Not comfortably. Enhance carries approval, so a problem is worsened or aggravated rather than enhanced.
Enhance or improve?
Improve is the safe general word. Enhance implies the thing was already worth having.