help matters

idiom

: to make a situation better

—usually used in negative statements

It didn't exactly help matters when he accused her of lying!

Examples of help matters in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Undoubtedly, the government crackdown that began in late 2020 on large private companies, notably Alibaba, did not help matters. —Nicholas R. Lardy, Foreign Affairs, 2 Apr. 2024

Injuries to Seth Curry and Cody Martin didn’t help matters. —Roderick Boone, Charlotte Observer, 28 Mar. 2024

Getting through the remainder of the season unscathed would help matters as well. —Roderick Boone, Charlotte Observer, 26 Feb. 2024

Draw your own conclusions, but retirement planning often takes help, and the source of that help matters. —Steve Parrish, Forbes, 14 Feb. 2024

But the program’s difficult Big 12 schedule won’t help matters and just might slow progress. —Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 30 Jan. 2024

The lukewarm reception to the album’s advance title track didn’t help matters. —Carl Lamarre, Billboard, 21 Feb. 2024

The Japanese government does not help matters by putting its thumb on the scales in favor of older and bigger companies. —Richard Katz, Foreign Affairs, 31 Jan. 2024

The loss of the longtime stalwarts like downtown’s Blue Whale, which closed during the pandemic, certainly don’t help matters. —Brynn Shiovitz, Los Angeles Times, 11 Dec. 2023