Word: exacerbate (verb)

Associations

"Exacerbate" means to make a problem, situation, or feeling worse or more severe.

• The heavy rain exacerbated the flooding in the city. (The rain made the flooding worse.)
• His rude comments only exacerbated the tension between them. (The comments made the tension stronger.)
• Poor diet can exacerbate health problems. (It makes health problems worse.)

A similar word is "worsen." The difference is that "exacerbate" often implies making something bad more intense or severe, while "worsen" is more general and simple.

Substitution

You can replace "exacerbate" with:

• worsen (more general)
• aggravate (very close in meaning, often used for problems or pain)
• intensify (focuses on making something stronger, not always negative) Example: "Stress can aggravate headaches."

Deconstruction

"Exacerbate" comes from Latin "exacerbare":

• Prefix "ex-" means "out" or "thoroughly"
• Root "acer" means "sharp" or "bitter"
• Suffix "-bate" is from Latin verb endings Together, it means "to make something sharp or severe."

Inquiry

• Can you think of a time when a small problem got worse because of someone's actions? How would you describe that using "exacerbate"?
• How is "exacerbate" different from just "making worse"? When would you choose to use it?
• Can you use "exacerbate" to talk about feelings, like anger or sadness? How?