exacerbate
verb
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The Latin adjective acer, meaning "sharp," forms the basis of a number of English words. Acerbic ("having a bitter temper or sour mood"), acrid ("having a sharp taste or odor"), and acrimony ("a harsh manner or disposition") are just the tip of the jagged iceberg. 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 wound worsens pain, things that exacerbate cause a situation to go from bad to worse. A pointed insult or cutting remark, for example, might exacerbate tensions between two bitter rivals. The legacy of acer isn't all negative, however. The Latin name for the genus of maple trees and shrubs is Acer, owing to maples’ characteristically pointy leaves.
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Exacerbate vs. Exasperate
Exacerbate is frequently confused with exasperate, and with good reason. Not only do these words resemble one another in spelling and pronunciation, they also at one time held exceedingly similar meanings. Exasperate is today most commonly used as a synonym of annoy, but for several hundred years it also had the meanings “to make more grievous” and “to make harsh or harsher.” Exacerbate is now the more common choice of these two words when one seeks to indicate that something is becoming increasingly bitter, violent, or unpleasant. It comes in part from the Latin word acer, meaning “sharp,” whereas exasperate is from asper, the Latin word for “rough.”
Examples of exacerbate in a Sentence
Jeff Madrick, New York Review of Books, 20 Mar. 2008
… the sway that pack journalism holds on the Beltway press corps persists. The Crowd is never so influential as in the ever-lengthening season of presidential campaigns. The feverish obsessions of the blogosphere have only exacerbated the phenomenon: Now the herd just turns faster in pursuit of some ginned-up "controversy" or faux scandal.
—Editor & Publisher, April 2007
The proposed factory shutdown would only exacerbate our unemployment problems.
His angry comments have exacerbated tensions in the negotiation process.
David Folkenflik, NPR, 16 June 2025
The depression of the eighteen-nineties, exacerbated by McKinley’s tariffs, stirred American support for taking colonies in order to right the economy.
—Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 16 June 2025
The lowest points were desolate and full of perilous financial insecurity, exacerbated eventually by the Covid-19 pandemic.
—Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, New York Times, 14 June 2025
Once he was convicted, Madigan’s betrayal of McClain served to exacerbate his crimes in the judge’s eyes.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 13 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for exacerbate
Cite this Entry
“Exacerbate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/exacerbate. Accessed 30 Jun. 2025.
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exacerbate
transitive verb
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