exacerbate
to make a bad situation worse
TRANSLATION
exacerbate = erbittern, erschweren, reizen, etw. verschlimmern (LEO) --- GOOGLE INDEX exacerbate: approximately 6,400,000 hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
John's bad pronunciation only EXACERBATED his language difficulties.
(PS)
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In Mongolia, old and new pressures of the harsh terrain and climate, population growth, poverty, and unemployment EXACERBATE issues of poverty and environmental degradation.
(Environment Magazine)
(PS)
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In Mongolia, old and new pressures of the harsh terrain and climate, population growth, poverty, and unemployment EXACERBATE issues of poverty and environmental degradation.
(Environment Magazine)
Did you
know?
exacerbate
verb
- to make something which is already bad worse
(Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)
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WORD ORIGIN
Exacerbate can be traced to around 1660 and was probably created by a back formation of exacerbation or it was derived from the Latin exacerbates, the past participle of exacerbare, meaning to irritate, annoy (ex = thoroughly, acerbare = to make bitter, to aggravate). The French exacerber has the same Latin root.
Exacerbate can be used to describe nearly any situation in which something causes a bad situation to become worse:
(general business) The project delays exacerbated an already tense relationship with the supplier.
(at home) The letter from the tax authorities exacerbated his bad mood.
(medicine) The antibiotics only served to exacerbate her allergy.
(international relations) The war will exacerbate sectarian tensions in the region.
(environment) Deforestation has the potential to significantly exacerbate global warming.
(finance) Rising oil prices are exacerbating an already volatile market.
(engineering) The lack of statewide standards exacerbated the damage caused by the hurricane.
(sources: The Online Etymology Dictionary)
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SYNONYMS
aggravate, annoy, egg on, embitter, enrage, envenom, exasperate, excite, heat up, heighten, hit on, hot up, increase, inflame, intensify, irritate, madden, provoke, vex, worsen
idiomatic: to add oil to the fire, to throw oil on the fire
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Antonyms
appease, assuage, calm, ease, mitigate, mollify, pacify, placate, soften, soothe
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IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS TODAY
say something like:
“His comments only exacerbated what was already a difficult relationship with his boss.”
verb
- to make something which is already bad worse
(Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)
---
WORD ORIGIN
Exacerbate can be traced to around 1660 and was probably created by a back formation of exacerbation or it was derived from the Latin exacerbates, the past participle of exacerbare, meaning to irritate, annoy (ex = thoroughly, acerbare = to make bitter, to aggravate). The French exacerber has the same Latin root.
Exacerbate can be used to describe nearly any situation in which something causes a bad situation to become worse:
(general business) The project delays exacerbated an already tense relationship with the supplier.
(at home) The letter from the tax authorities exacerbated his bad mood.
(medicine) The antibiotics only served to exacerbate her allergy.
(international relations) The war will exacerbate sectarian tensions in the region.
(environment) Deforestation has the potential to significantly exacerbate global warming.
(finance) Rising oil prices are exacerbating an already volatile market.
(engineering) The lack of statewide standards exacerbated the damage caused by the hurricane.
(sources: The Online Etymology Dictionary)
---
SYNONYMS
aggravate, annoy, egg on, embitter, enrage, envenom, exasperate, excite, heat up, heighten, hit on, hot up, increase, inflame, intensify, irritate, madden, provoke, vex, worsen
idiomatic: to add oil to the fire, to throw oil on the fire
---
Antonyms
appease, assuage, calm, ease, mitigate, mollify, pacify, placate, soften, soothe
---
IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS TODAY
say something like:
“His comments only exacerbated what was already a difficult relationship with his boss.”
