exacerbate

[ig-zas-er-beyt, ek-sas-]

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verb (used with object), ex·ac·er·bat·ed, ex·ac·er·bat·ing.

to increase the severity, bitterness, or violence of (disease, ill feeling, etc.); aggravate.
to embitter the feelings of (a person); irritate; exasperate.

Origin of exacerbate

1650–60; < Latin exacerbātus (past participle of exacerbāre to exasperate, provoke), equivalent to ex- ex-¹ + acerbātus acerbate

Related formsex·ac·er·bat·ing·ly, adverbex·ac·er·ba·tion, nounun·ex·ac·er·bat·ed, adjectiveun·ex·ac·er·bat·ing, adjective

Can be confusedexacerbate exasperate

Synonyms for exacerbate

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1. intensify, inflame, worsen.

Antonyms for exacerbate

1. relieve, soothe, alleviate.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for exacerbate

annoy, aggravate, worsen, heighten, irritate, inflame, provoke, intensify, increase, embitter, exasperate, envenom, excite, madden, vex, enrage

Examples from the Web for exacerbate

Contemporary Examples of exacerbate

They wind up on the streets or in jail, environments that will exacerbate their problems.
Government Has Failed the Mentally Ill
Monica Potts
September 1, 2014
They can exacerbate splits within a ruling leadership, foment popular unrest, or expedite a dwindling current account.
Why Aren’t Sanctions Stopping Putin?
Meghan L. O’Sullivan
May 13, 2014
But instead of taking my edge off, all the wine did was exacerbate my starvation-induced headache.
We Were Gwyneth’s GOOP Guinea Pigs
Erin Cunningham, Olivia Nuzzi
March 30, 2014
In this view, new programs—or greater funding for existing ones—would only exacerbate “dependency.”
Republicans to the Poor: “You Built That!"
Jamelle Bouie
January 23, 2014
But as machines continue to displace humans in a range of fields, they may exacerbate our structural problems with jobs growth.
Robotic Technologies Could Aggravate the U.S. Problem of Slow Jobs Growth
Robert Shapiro
July 19, 2013

Historical Examples of exacerbate

To remove all things which may alarm, torment, or exacerbate?
Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, Vol. II (of 16)
Thomas Hart Benton
It's not for you, and you do but exacerbate the frightful pain there's been in feeling it with them.
This Freedom
A. S. M. Hutchinson
Any foreign intervention serves only to exacerbate the situation by increasing the number and intensity of inter-ethnic grudges.
After the Rain
Sam Vaknin

British Dictionary definitions for exacerbate

exacerbate

verb (tr)

to make (pain, disease, emotion, etc) more intense; aggravate
to exasperate or irritate (a person)

Derived Formsexacerbation, noun

Word Origin for exacerbate

C17: from Latin exacerbāre to irritate, from acerbus bitter

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for exacerbate

1650s, a back-formation from exacerbation or else from Latin exacerbatus, past participle of exacerbare (see exacerbation). Related: Exacerbated; exacerbating.