Word a Day
exacerbate
What does exacerbate mean?
exacerbate (verb): make worse.
Definition: Princeton WordNet 3.1.
How do you use exacerbate in a sentence?
- Try not to exacerbate the situation. (Tatoeba sentence #10551828 by CK, CC BY 2.0 FR)
How do you pronounce exacerbate?
/ɪɡˈzæsɚˌbeɪt/ (IPA, American English). The app reads every word aloud.
Where does exacerbate come from?
First attested in 1660; borrowed from Latin exacerbātus, perfect passive participle of Latin exacerbō (“to provoke”), from ex- (“out of; thoroughly”) + acerbō (“to embitter, harshen or worsen”).
Etymology: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What are synonyms of exacerbate?
Words related to exacerbate
From Princeton WordNet 3.1.
Test yourself: do you know “exacerbate”?
Tap an answer to check it. The same questions the app asks.
What does “exacerbate” mean?
make legal
Not quite: that's what legitimize means.
to defraud
Not quite: that's what swindle means.
meet again
Not quite: that's what reconvene means.
make worse
Right! That's what “exacerbate” means.
Which word is closest in meaning to “exacerbate”?
plunge
Not quite: plunge means something else.
worsen
Right!
aspire
Not quite: aspire means something else.
enroll
Not quite: enroll means something else.
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