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Explicit solutions to vertical and horizontal displacements are derived for large deformation of a cantilever beam under point load at the free end by an improved homotopy analysis method (IHAM). Quadratic and cubic nonlinear differential equations are adopted to construct more proficient nonlinear equations for vertical and horizontal displacements respectively combined with their currently available nonlinear displacement equations. Higher-order nonlinear iterative homotopy equations are established to solve the vertical and horizontal displacements by combining simultaneous equations of the constructed nonlinear equations and the auxiliary linear equations. The convergence range of vertical displacement is extended by the homotopy-Páde approximation. The explicit solutions to the vertical and horizontal displacements are in favorable agreements with the respective exact solutions. The convergence ranges for a relative error of 1% by the improved homotopy analysis method for vertical and horizontal displacements increases by 60% and 7%, respectively. These explicit formulas are helpful in practical engineering design for very slender structures, such as high-rise buildings and long bridges.