exacerbate

• POS: Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: ex=ac=er=bate

CIDE DICTIONARY

exacerbate, v. t. [L. exacerbatus, p. p. of exacerbare; ex out (intens.) + acerbare. See Acerbate.].

 To render more violent or bitter; to irritate; to exasperate; to imbitter, as passions or disease.  Brougham.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

exacerbate, v.tr.
1 make (pain, anger, etc.) worse.
2 irritate (a person).

Derivative

exacerbation n.

Etymology

L exacerbare (as EX-(1), acerbus bitter)

THESAURUS

exacerbate

accelerate, acerbate, agent provocateur, aggravate, alienate, amplify, annoy, antagonize, augment, beef up, bitter, blow up, build up, chafe, complicate, concentrate, condense, consolidate, damage, deepen, deteriorate, dilapidate, double, embitter, endamage, enhance, enlarge, envenom, estrange, exaggerate, exasperate, feed the fire, fret, gall, grate, grate on, gravel, grit, harm, heat up, heighten, hop up, hot up, hurt, impair, increase, inflame, infuriate, injure, intensify, irritate, jazz up, key up, madden, magnify, make acute, make complex, make worse, provoke, put back, ramify, rasp, redouble, reinforce, set against, set at odds, set on edge, sharpen, soup up, sour, step up, strengthen, triple, weaken, whet, worsen

ROGET THESAURUS

exacerbate

Deterioration

VB be worse, be deteriorated, become worse, become deteriorated Adj, have seen better days, deteriorate, degenerate, fall off, wane, ebb, retrograde, decline, droop, go down, go downhill, go from bad to worse, go farther and fare worse, jump out of the frying pan into the fire, run to seed, go to seed, run to waste swale, sweal, lapse, be the worse for, sphacelate: break, break down, spring a leak, crack, start, shrivel, fade, go off, wither, molder, rot, rankle, decay, go bad, go to decay, fall into decay, fall into the sear and yellow leaf, rust, crumble, shake, totter, totter to its fall, perish, die, deteriorate, weaken, put back, set back, taint, infect, contaminate, poison, empoison, envenom, canker, corrupt, exulcerate, pollute, vitiate, inquinate, debase, embase, denaturalize, denature, leaven, deflower, debauch, defile, deprave, degrade, ulcerate, stain, discolor, alloy, adulterate, sophisticate, tamper with, prejudice, pervert, prostitute, demoralize, brutalize, render vicious, embitter, acerbate, exacerbate, aggravate, injure, impair, labefy, damage, harm, hurt, shend, scath, scathe, spoil, mar, despoil, dilapidate, waste, overrun, ravage, pillage, wound, stab, pierce, maim, lame, surbate, cripple, hough, hamstring, hit between wind and water, scotch, mangle, mutilate, disfigure, blemish, deface, warp, blight, rot, corrode, erode, wear away, wear out, gnaw, gnaw at the root of, sap, mine, undermine, shake, sap the foundations of, break up, disorganize, dismantle, dismast, destroy, damnify, do one's worst, knock down, deal a blow to, play havoc with, play sad havoc with, play the mischief with, play the deuce with, play the very devil with, play havoc among, play sad havoc among, play the mischief among, play the deuce among, play the very devil among, decimate.

N deterioration, debasement, wane, ebb, recession, retrogradation, decrease, degeneracy, degeneration, degenerateness, degradation, depravation, depravement, devolution, depravity, demoralization, retrogression, masochism, impairment, inquination, injury, damage, loss, detriment, delaceration, outrage, havoc, inroad, ravage, scath, perversion, prostitution, vitiation, discoloration, oxidation, pollution, defoedation, poisoning, venenation, leaven, contamination, canker, corruption, adulteration, alloy, decline, declension, declination, decadence, decadency, falling off, caducity, decrepitude, decay, dilapidation, ravages of time, wear and tear, corrosion, erosion, moldiness, rottenness, moth and rust, dry rot, blight, marasmus, atrophy, collapse, disorganization, delabrement (destruction), aphid, Aphis, plant louse, puceron, vinefretter, vinegrub, wreck, mere wreck, honeycomb, magni nominis umbra, jade, plug, rackabones, skate, tackey, tacky, have seen better days, deteriorate, degenerate, fall off, wane, ebb, retrograde, decline, droop, go down, go downhill, go from bad to worse, go farther and fare worse, jump out of the frying pan into the fire, run to seed, go to seed, run to waste swale, sweal, lapse, be the worse for, sphacelate: break, break down, spring a leak, crack, start, shrivel, fade, go off, wither, molder, rot, rankle, decay, go bad, go to decay, fall into decay, fall into the sear and yellow leaf, rust, crumble, shake, totter, totter to its fall, perish, die, deteriorate, weaken, put back, set back, taint, infect, contaminate, poison, empoison, envenom, canker, corrupt, exulcerate, pollute, vitiate, inquinate, debase, embase, denaturalize, denature, leaven, deflower, debauch, defile, deprave, degrade, ulcerate, stain, discolor, alloy, adulterate, sophisticate, tamper with, prejudice, pervert, prostitute, demoralize, brutalize, render vicious, embitter, acerbate, exacerbate, aggravate, injure, impair, labefy, damage, harm, hurt, shend, scath, scathe, spoil, mar, despoil, dilapidate, waste, overrun, ravage, pillage, wound, stab, pierce, maim, lame, surbate, cripple, hough, hamstring, hit between wind and water, scotch, mangle, mutilate, disfigure, blemish, deface, warp, blight, rot, corrode, erode, wear away, wear out, gnaw, gnaw at the root of, sap, mine, undermine, shake, sap the foundations of, break up, disorganize, dismantle, dismast, destroy, damnify, do one's worst, knock down, deal a blow to, play havoc with, play sad havoc with, play the mischief with, play the deuce with, play the very devil with, play havoc among, play sad havoc among, play the mischief among, play the deuce among, play the very devil among, decimate, Adj, unimproved &c (improve), deteriorated, altered, altered for the worse, injured, sprung, withering, spoiling, on the wane, on the decline, tabid, degenerate, marescent, worse, the worse for, all the worse for, out of repair, out of tune, imperfect, the worse for wear, battered, weathered, weather-beaten, stale, passe, shaken, dilapidated, frayed, faded, wilted, shabby, secondhand, threadbare, worn, worn to a thread, worn to a shadow, worn to the stump, worn to rags, reduced, reduced to a skeleton, far gone, tacky, decayed, moth-eaten, worm-eaten, mildewed, rusty, moldy, spotted, seedy, time-worn, moss-grown, discolored, effete, wasted, crumbling, moldering, rotten, cankered, blighted, tainted, depraved, decrepid, decrepit, broke, busted, broken, out of commission, hors de combat, out of action, broken down, done, done for, done up, worn out, used up, finished, beyond saving, fit for the dust hole, fit for the wastepaper basket, past work, at a low ebb, in a bad way, on one's last legs, undermined, deciduous, nodding to its fall, tottering, past cure, fatigued, retrograde, deleterious, out of the frying pan into the fire, agrescit medendo, what a falling off was there!.

Increase

VB increase, augment, add to, enlarge, dilate, grow, wax, get ahead, gain strength, advance, run up, shoot up, rise, ascend, sprout, aggrandize, raise, exalt, deepen, heighten, strengthen, intensify, enhance, magnify, redouble, aggravate, exaggerate, exasperate, exacerbate, add fuel to the flame, oleum addere camino, superadd, spread.

Violence

VB be violent, run high, ferment, effervesce, romp, rampage, go on a rampage, run wild, run amuck, run riot, break the peace, rush, tear, rush headlong, rush foremost, raise a storm, make a riot, rough house, riot, storm, wreak, bear down, ride roughshod, out Herod, Herod, spread like wildfire (person), explode, make a row, kick up a row, boil, boil over, fume, foam, come on like a lion, bluster, rage, roar, fly off the handle, go bananas, go ape, blow one's top, blow one's cool, flip one's lid, hit the ceiling, hit the roof, fly into a rage (anger), break out, fly out, burst out, bounce, explode, go off, displode, fly, detonate, thunder, blow up, crump, flash, flare, burst, shock, strain, break open, force open, prize open, render violent, sharpen, stir up, quicken, excite, incite, annoy, urge, lash, stimulate, turn on, irritate, inflame, kindle, suscitate, foment, accelerate, aggravate, exasperate, exacerbate, convulse, infuriate, madden, lash into fury, fan the flame, add fuel to the flame, pour oil on the fire, oleum addere camino, explode, let fly, fly off, discharge, detonate, set off, detonize, fulminate.

Aggravation

VB aggravate, render worse, heighten, embitter, sour, exacerbate, exasperate, envenom, enrage, provoke, tease, add fuel to the fire, add fuel to the flame, fan the flame, go from bad to worse.