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Is there a word that means "more well", in the same way that "better" means "more good"? In common parlance most people just use "better" for this purpose, but this seems incorrect and is a nagging irritation for me, since "better" is an adjective while "well" is an adverb, and so strictly speaking can't be used in the same sense.

I realize there isn't a commonly used word for this but it'd be interesting to know if there's one that's become archaic and has fallen into disuse.

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Strictly speaking, better is fine for "more well", because it is not only an adjective, but an adverb too: dictionary.reference.com/browse/better. So, people are using it correctly. This is not the only word that functions as both an adjective and an adverb. – Kosmonaut Nov 7 '10 at 19:59

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The Oxford English Dictionary says the following. Historically, the comparative of the adverb “well” was “bet” (the link requires subscription) whereas the comparative of the adjective “good” has been “better”. The use of the word “better” as an adverb appeared around the 13th century, and it superseded “bet” by around 1600.

As Kosmonaut writes in a comment on the question, in modern English, the word “better” is used as both an adjective and an adverb. The Merriam-Webster dictionary agrees on this.

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Interesting – just what I was after, thanks. It still feels wrong to me to use "better" as an adverb though! – Will Vousden Nov 7 '10 at 20:03
@Will Vousden: Yes, it turned out to be surprisingly interesting. It is always worth looking up a large dictionary! – Tsuyoshi Ito Nov 7 '10 at 20:10
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Well can be modified with an appropriate adverb such as "exceedingly" to indicate a comparison.

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Sure, but sometimes you just want a single word. The same could be said of "good", but you wouldn't want to be restricted to saying things like "exceedingly good" when you could just say "better". – Will Vousden Nov 7 '10 at 19:34
Yes, just as "ungood" means bad. Just ask Big Brother. (George Orwell, 1984.) – shipr Apr 26 '11 at 6:36

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