exacerbate

English

Etymology

From Latin exacerbo (“to provoke”); ex (“out of; thoroughly”) + acerbo (“to embitter, harshen or worsen”).

Pronunciation
  • (UK) IPA(key): /ɪɡˈzæsəˌbeɪt/, /ɪkˈsæs-/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ɪɡˈzæsɚˌbeɪt/
  • Audio (US)(file)

Verb

exacerbate (third-person singular simple present exacerbates, present participle exacerbating, simple past and past participle exacerbated)

  1. (transitive) To make worse (a problem, bad situation, negative feeling, etc.); aggravate.
    The proposed shutdown would exacerbate unemployment problems.
    • 2013, Louise Taylor, English talent gets left behind as Premier League keeps importing (in The Guardian, 20 August 2013)
      The reasons for this growing disconnect are myriad and complex but the situation is exacerbated by the reality that those English players who do smash through our game's "glass ceiling" command radically inflated transfer fees.

Derived terms

Translations
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Translations to be checked

See also

References
    • “exacerbate” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2019.

    Latin

    Verb

    exacerbāte

    1. second-person plural present active imperative of exacerbō
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