exacerbate
[ig-zas-er-beyt, ek-sas-]
- to increase the severity, bitterness, or violence of (disease, ill feeling, etc.); aggravate.
- to embitter the feelings of (a person); irritate; exasperate.
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Origin of exacerbate
Synonyms
See more synonyms for exacerbate on Thesaurus.com1. intensify, inflame, worsen.
Antonyms
1. relieve, soothe, alleviate.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for exacerbated
Contemporary Examples
The panic is exacerbated when those still working presumably safely in the affected areas are worried, too.
As with the drug trade, much of the violence associated with sex work is exacerbated by its illegality.
This was exacerbated by two years in Turkey where he says, “the only option is to live underground and survive.”
The problem has been exacerbated as programs become fewer and larger.
But Cantor also exacerbated things by failing at attempts to play internal politics within the Republican Party of Virginia.
Historical Examples
The disposition, of course, was there; it should have been modified, not exacerbated.
Expository WritingMervin James Curl
To his exacerbated nerves its rich southern melodies were soothing.
EgoistsJames Huneker
The effects of increasing vessel traffic apparently are exacerbated by the narrow physical confines of Glacier Bay.
Humpback Whales in Glacier Bay National Monument, AlaskaUnited States Department of Commerce, Marine Mammal Commission
Accordingly, he has met with some exacerbated decriers, and with very few thorough-going defenders.
The English NovelGeorge Saintsbury
The pains are not exacerbated at night, but, on the contrary, are often more severe by day.
exacerbate
- to make (pain, disease, emotion, etc) more intense; aggravate
- to exasperate or irritate (a person)
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Word Origin
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
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Word Origin and History for exacerbated
exacerbate
v.
1650s, a back-formation from exacerbation or else from Latin exacerbatus, past participle of exacerbare (see exacerbation). Related: Exacerbated; exacerbating.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper