Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To increase the severity, violence, or bitterness of; aggravate: a speech that exacerbated racial tensions; a heavy rainfall that exacerbated the flood problems.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To increase the bitterness or virulence of; make more violent, as a disease, or angry, hostile, or malignant feelings; aggravate; exasperate.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To render more violent or bitter; to irritate; to exasperate; to imbitter, as passions or disease.
WordNet 3.0
- v. make worse
- v. exasperate or irritate
Etymologies
- Latin exacerbāre, exacerbāt- : ex-, intensive pref.; see ex- + acerbāre, to make harsh (from acerbus, harsh; see ak- in Indo-European roots). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“How everybody's all pretending they know what in hell the word exacerbate means.”
“Although litigation may be necessary at some point, Mr. King's lawsuit has only served to "exacerbate" negotiations with BP, Mr. Riley said in an interview.”
The Wall Street Journal: Spill Payments Irk Alabama Business
“He also warned Nato not to "exacerbate" its presence in the region.”
The Guardian: Russia and Norway resolve Arctic border dispute
“Why am I sure the Pope's reply will be couched in some stupid definition of "exacerbate" along the lines of "encourage promiscuous behaviour"?”
“Anamika, who tied for fifth in her debut last year, kept both hands behind her back as she rattled off "exacerbate" and "foggara.”
“He added that the proliferation of netbooks and other mobile devices featuring ARM-based processors would be sure to "exacerbate" a rising demand for faster data access.”
“And obviously you kind of exacerbate it by currency.”
“Geeslin indicated that increasing TWIA rates at this time would "exacerbate" the burdens faced by Texas living along the coast but recognized that "some modest rate increases" might”
“So we kind of exacerbate that dynamic to the fullest.”
“Both Wordsworth and Coleridge left Cambridge with a love of literature, and a revolutionary fervor that would only exacerbate their troubles.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘exacerbate’.
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1100
abound, technology, branch of knowled..., prognosticate, automaton, matron, an older married ..., realm, special field of ..., kingdom, annals, historical records and 981 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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GRE Barron's 800
zealot, wistful, welter, wary, whimsical, warranted, vortex, vivisection, volatile, vitiate, viscous, visage and 787 more...
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501
Classic
abhor, mirth, obtuse, iota, vex, irk, teem, pith, moot, mete, ire, bane and 401 more...
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GRE 2014
abase, abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
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EN-HU - important words for a HU inte...
Words only (I left out the expressions) from Geza Kerenyi's EN-HU interpreters' dictionary. Most of them pose some difficulty when interpreted between HU and EN in either or both directions.
abalone, abrasive, abstractionist, abstruse, abysmal, academia, accessibility, accessible, acclimate, accolade, accompanist, achiever and 1469 more...
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501
Classic
irk, teem, blight, pith, moot, mete, ire, bane, bilk, boor, elan, ado and 401 more...
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(1st_wk_150)-Dec_5_2012
voracious, indiscriminate, eminent, steeped, replete, abound, technology, prognosticate, automaton, matron, paradox, realm and 297 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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GRE
predilection, explicit, appeal, supplication, appealing, enchanting, ovation, pertinent, apropos, opportunely, applicable, germane and 381 more...
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GRE 1100
drudgery, implore, hapless, nuance, wrest, incipient, inadvertent, tremulous, bristle, euphemism, disdain, pugnacious and 346 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1847 more...
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to memorize
words i need to memorize
aberrant, abscond, advocate, aggrandize, amalgamate, ambiguous, ambrosial, anomalous, antediluvian, antipathy, arbitrate, assuage and 163 more...
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Reading Vocab
ulterior, warrant, syllogism, precious, impiety, maroon, aigrette, batiste, topsy-turvy ago, midnight crush, cantankerous, slovenly and 180 more...
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1100 words you need to know
GRE words
voracious, indiscriminate, replete, steeped, eminent, perceive, intrepid, compound, automaton, reticent, interminable, drudgery and 288 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for exacerbate.
myth17 "These days, schizophrenia is often imagined as the quintessential brain disease, an expression of underlying organic vulnerability perhaps exacerbated by environmental stress, but as real and as obdurate as kidney failure" -- American Scholar Aug 27, 2012
Ido Berger Eating Animals Jul 1, 2010
thesaurosie As I always say, I use the word 'exacerbate' at least once in every school assignment, because almost everything will inevitably get worse ^_^
Jul 4, 2009
sarra Did look down the list but it's so gigantic I missed it! Damn it. May 9, 2008
mollusque That's why it's listed on Kangaroo Words 2. May 8, 2008
sarra But abate is (roughly) an antonym of exacerbate…? May 8, 2008
oroboros exAcerBATE May 7, 2008
midnightisclose "And I have to say that what exacerbates the problem is..." - "A Miracle Would Happen," The Last Five Years Jan 10, 2007