to enrich

Meanings

1. 1verbtransitive

   To improve the quality or value of something by adding something good to it.

   Grammar: Takes an object: enrich the soil. You cannot say 'the soil enriches' when you mean it gets better.

   Patterns

   • enrich something with something
   • enrich someone's life
   • enrich the soil

   The school added a music program to enrich the students' education.

   Farmers enrich the soil with compost before planting.

   Travel can enrich your understanding of other cultures.

2. 2verbtransitive

   To make someone richer, or to increase the amount of money or wealth that a person or country has.

   Grammar: Takes a person, group, or place as its object: enrich a nation. Often used about people who gain money in an unfair way.

   Patterns

   • enrich someone
   • enrich a country
   • enrich yourself

   The new trade deal enriched the region's biggest exporters.

   He used his position to enrich himself and his family.

   Tourism has enriched this small coastal town.

3. 3verbtransitivetechnical

   To add vitamins or other healthy substances to a food so that it is more nutritious.

   Grammar: Takes a food as its object, often in the passive: the flour is enriched with iron.

   Patterns

   • enrich something with something
   • enriched flour
   • enriched with vitamins

   In many countries, white flour is enriched with iron and folic acid.

   The cereal is enriched with several vitamins.

   They enrich the rice to replace nutrients lost during processing.

4. 4verbtransitivetechnicalphysics

   To increase the amount of a useful substance in a material, especially to make nuclear fuel stronger.

   Grammar: Takes a substance as its object, often in the passive: uranium is enriched.

   Patterns

   • enrich uranium
   • enrich a substance
   • enriched uranium

   The plant is designed to enrich uranium for power stations.

   Scientists can enrich the sample to make the reaction stronger.

   Concerns were raised about the country's ability to enrich nuclear material.

Word forms

Common combinations

enrich someone's life

Learning a language can enrich your life in unexpected ways.

enrich the soil

They enrich the soil with natural fertilizers every spring.

enrich the curriculum

The school hopes to enrich the curriculum with more art classes.

enrich uranium

Only a few countries have the technology to enrich uranium.

enrich yourself

The director was accused of trying to enrich himself at the company's expense.

Synonyms and how they differ

enhance

Enhance means to make something already good even better in quality or appearance, while enrich often suggests adding something valuable that was missing.

improve

Improve is the general word for making something better; enrich is narrower and usually means adding something that adds value or wealth.

fortify

Fortify is used mostly for adding nutrients to food or making something stronger, whereas enrich is broader and can also mean making someone richer.

Opposites

Word family

enrichment noun

The act of making something richer or better, or a program that adds to what is already there.

enriched adjective

Describing food or material that has had something valuable added to it.

enriching adjective

Describing an experience that adds value or meaning to your life.

Commonly confused: to enrich or enroll?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “to enrich”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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