make matters worse
idiom
: to make a situation worse
He laughed at her and then, to make matters worse, he accused her of lying!
Examples of make matters worse in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
No one wants to pressurise a woman who is unwell into doing something which could well make matters worse.
—
Jake Kanter, Deadline, 29 Oct. 2025
To make matters worse, none of the wedding flowers had been purchased or arranged.
—Ashlyn Robinette, PEOPLE, 29 Oct. 2025
Advertisement To make matters worse, AI developers do not understand how current powerful AI systems actually work.
—Andrea Miotti, Time, 29 Oct. 2025
To make matters worse, Jets owner Woody Johnson was not shy in bashing the quarterback for being a big reason that the team entered Sunday as the only winless team in the NFL.
—Mark Kern, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for make matters worse
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Jake Kanter, Deadline, 29 Oct. 2025
To make matters worse, none of the wedding flowers had been purchased or arranged.
—Ashlyn Robinette, PEOPLE, 29 Oct. 2025
Advertisement To make matters worse, AI developers do not understand how current powerful AI systems actually work.
—Andrea Miotti, Time, 29 Oct. 2025
To make matters worse, Jets owner Woody Johnson was not shy in bashing the quarterback for being a big reason that the team entered Sunday as the only winless team in the NFL.
—Mark Kern, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for make matters worse
Cite this Entry
“Make matters worse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/make%20matters%20worse. Accessed 10 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share