as in to worsen
to make more severe
a misconceived plan that only exacerbated the city's traffic problem
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of exacerbate
This is on top of the additional toll racial and class discrimination plays, which exacerbate all of the above.
—
Helen Carefoot, Flow Space, 8 Oct. 2025
Our analysis suggests that allergies exacerbate existing vulnerabilities, pushing some people toward crisis.
—Shooshan Danagoulian, The Conversation, 8 Oct. 2025
Weddings may be exacerbating the problem for some.
—Ana Teresa Solá, CNBC, 8 Oct. 2025
Teoscar Hernández chooses the right time to hustle No one has felt the highs and lows of this series quite like Hernández, whose defensive gaffe in the second inning of Game 1 exacerbated the Dodgers’ early deficit and whose bat lifted them to a 5-3 victory that night.
—Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 7 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for exacerbate
Helen Carefoot, Flow Space, 8 Oct. 2025
Our analysis suggests that allergies exacerbate existing vulnerabilities, pushing some people toward crisis.
—Shooshan Danagoulian, The Conversation, 8 Oct. 2025
Weddings may be exacerbating the problem for some.
—Ana Teresa Solá, CNBC, 8 Oct. 2025
Teoscar Hernández chooses the right time to hustle No one has felt the highs and lows of this series quite like Hernández, whose defensive gaffe in the second inning of Game 1 exacerbated the Dodgers’ early deficit and whose bat lifted them to a 5-3 victory that night.
—Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 7 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for exacerbate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for exacerbate
Verb
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Laing also cautioned that sardines contain purines, which may cause a buildup of uric acid and worsen symptoms like joint pain and swelling for people with gout.—
Stephanie Brown,
Verywell Health,
10 Oct. 2025
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Pain may worsen at night or in the morning, not improve with rest, and differ from common muscle or digestive issues.—
Lindsay Curtis,
Health,
10 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The following year, several lawmakers were accused of failing to report income or disclose kickbacks, deepening public frustration.—
Hanako Montgomery,
CNN Money,
11 Oct. 2025
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The board’s challenge lies in deepening their expertise while being intentional about protecting their bandwidth given the sheer volume of information and pace of change.—
Lara Abrash,
Fortune,
11 Oct. 2025
Verb
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As anger fades into apathy and grief is aggravated by guilt, the public also chooses silence.—
Yangyang Cheng,
NPR,
4 Oct. 2025
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Jones was limited throughout practice last week after aggravating a preseason knee injury in the Week 3 win over the Arizona Cardinals.—
The Athletic Staff,
New York Times,
30 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Padrino also accused Washington of sharply intensifying aerial surveillance of Venezuela, citing a surge in spy flights last month.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
9 Oct. 2025
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And, as the first phase of his Gaza peace plan makes headway, the focus on the prospect of him winning is intensifying.—
Kate Bartlett,
NPR,
9 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Moscow has also touted a Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (FOBS) capability, enabling warheads to be placed on low-Earth orbital trajectories toward their targets, a profile that complicates early detection and interception.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Oct. 2025
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After excluding visits for VOC complicated by other diagnoses that necessitated an ESI 2 and visits for other acute sickle cell disease complications, the study included 66 ED visits by 41 patients.—
Hannah Millington,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Exacerbate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/exacerbate. Accessed 12 Oct. 2025.
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