fan the flames
to make a dangerous or unpleasant mood or situation worse:
His speeches fanned the flames of racial tension.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Deteriorating and making worse
- a step backwards idiom
- a turn of the screw idiom
- add
- afford
- aggravate
- backslide
- compound
- decline
- degrade
- disintegrate
- dog
- downgrade
- downhill
- exacerbate
- retrograde
- retrogress
- run yourself down
- seed
- slip
- slippery slope
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