exacerbate
verb /ɪɡˈzæsəbeɪt/
/ɪɡˈzæsərbeɪt/
(formal)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they exacerbate | /ɪɡˈzæsəbeɪt/ /ɪɡˈzæsərbeɪt/ |
| he / she / it exacerbates | /ɪɡˈzæsəbeɪts/ /ɪɡˈzæsərbeɪts/ |
| past simple exacerbated | /ɪɡˈzæsəbeɪtɪd/ /ɪɡˈzæsərbeɪtɪd/ |
| past participle exacerbated | /ɪɡˈzæsəbeɪtɪd/ /ɪɡˈzæsərbeɪtɪd/ |
| -ing form exacerbating | /ɪɡˈzæsəbeɪtɪŋ/ /ɪɡˈzæsərbeɪtɪŋ/ |
- exacerbate something to make something worse, especially a disease or problem synonym aggravate
- His aggressive reaction only exacerbated the situation.
- The symptoms may be exacerbated by certain drugs.
Oxford Collocations DictionaryExacerbate is used with these nouns as the object:- anxiety
- condition
- crisis
- …
Word Originmid 17th cent.: from Latin exacerbat- ‘made harsh’, from the verb exacerbare, from ex- (expressing inducement of a state) + acerbus ‘harsh, bitter’. The noun exacerbation (late Middle English) originally meant ‘provocation to anger’.