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
But after Emma falls ill following a vacation, she gets diagnosed with a rare and lethal viral disease that is carried through mosquitos — and to make matters worse, their daughter begins to display strange symptoms as well.
—
Lizz Schumer, PEOPLE, 4 Jan. 2026
To make matters worse, while private schools take the funding, Orange County Public Schools remains on the hook for providing special education services to some of those very same charter and private school students.
—Dick Batchelor, The Orlando Sentinel, 4 Jan. 2026
But as Alaska’s state courts have discovered, an inaccurate or misleading artificial intelligence chatbot can easily make matters worse.
—Kayla Hayempour, NBC news, 4 Jan. 2026
To make matters worse, over the next few years, patent protections will expire for several of the company’s drugs.
—The Motley Fool, Dallas Morning News, 4 Jan. 2026
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.
Lizz Schumer, PEOPLE, 4 Jan. 2026
To make matters worse, while private schools take the funding, Orange County Public Schools remains on the hook for providing special education services to some of those very same charter and private school students.
—Dick Batchelor, The Orlando Sentinel, 4 Jan. 2026
But as Alaska’s state courts have discovered, an inaccurate or misleading artificial intelligence chatbot can easily make matters worse.
—Kayla Hayempour, NBC news, 4 Jan. 2026
To make matters worse, over the next few years, patent protections will expire for several of the company’s drugs.
—The Motley Fool, Dallas Morning News, 4 Jan. 2026
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 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share