First appearing in English in the 17th century, exacerbate combines the Latin prefix ex- ("out of" or "outside") with acer offspring acerbus, meaning "harsh" or "bitter." Just as pouring salt in a …

Other forms: exacerbated; exacerbating; exacerbates. For a formal-sounding verb that means to make worse, try exacerbate. If you're in trouble, complaining about it will only exacerbate the …

Medically unexplained symptoms : exacerbating factors in the doctor-patient encounter.

2 meanings: 1. to make (pain, disease, emotion, etc) more intense; aggravate 2. to exasperate or irritate (a person).... Click for more definitions.

1. to increase the severity, bitterness, or violence of (disease, ill feeling, etc.). 2. to embitter the feelings of (a person). ex•ac`er•ba′tion, n. Random House Kernerman Webster's College …

Definition of exacerbate verb in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.

From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English ex‧a‧cer‧bate /ɪɡˈzæsəbeɪt $ -sər-/ verb [transitive] to make a bad situation worse The recession has exacerbated this problem.

Oct 14, 2025 · exacerbate (third-person singular simple present exacerbates, present participle exacerbating, simple past and past participle exacerbated) The proposed shutdown would …

EXACERBATE meaning: 1. to make something that is already bad even worse: 2. to make something that is already bad even…. Learn more.

To increase the severity, violence, or bitterness of; aggravate: a speech that exacerbated racial tensions; a heavy rainfall that exacerbated the flood problems. [Latin exacerbāre, exacerbāt- : …