exacerbate

Pronunciation

• (US) enPR: ĭg-zăs'ər-bāt, IPA ^(key): /ɪɡˈzæsɚˌbeɪt/
• (UK) IPA ^(key): /ɪɡˈzæsəˌbeɪt/ or /ɪkˈsæs-/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ex‧acer‧bate

Verb

Plain form exacerbate

Third-person singular exacerbates

Past tense exacerbated

Past participle exacerbated

Present participle exacerbating

1. (transitive) If you exacerbate something, you make it worse than it already is.

   Your unkind remark exacerbates my anguish.