Definition
To exacerbate is to make a bad thing worse — the exact mirror of mitigate. The Latin exacerbare means 'to make bitter' (acerbus is the root of 'acerbic'), and the word's particular cruelty is that it so often describes help gone wrong: scratching exacerbates the itch, hasty fixes exacerbate the bug, emergency borrowing exacerbates the debt. What exacerbates rarely intends to — which is why the word travels with 'only', as in measures that only exacerbated the crisis.
Examples
- Cutting the bus routes would only exacerbate the isolation of villages already in a precarious position.
- Scratching exacerbates the rash and slows its healing.
- The minister's dismissive tone exacerbated public anger rather than calming it.
Collocations
exacerbate the problem·only exacerbate·exacerbate tensions·exacerbate inequality·exacerbated by
Synonyms
worsen·aggravate·intensify·inflame·compound
Antonyms
mitigate·alleviate·ease
Word family
exacerbation (noun)
In TOEFL & IELTS
A problem-solution essay power verb: 'this would only exacerbate the problem' is the standard IELTS move for rejecting a flawed solution before proposing yours. TOEFL passages use it for feedback loops — warming exacerbates drought, drought exacerbates fires. Learn it as the precise opposite of mitigate, and mind the pronunciation: ig-ZAS-er-bate, with the stress on the second syllable.