Exacerbate

WORD OF THE DAY

exacerbate / verb / ig-ZASS-er-bayt

Definition
: to make more violent, bitter, or severe

Examples
"If you tend to use the elliptical when you’re recovering from a running or other sports-related injury, this could be the machine for you. Even though ellipticals are known to be one of the best options for low-impact exercise, they can sometimes still exacerbate joint pain or healing injuries. This machine, however, is similar to a recumbent bike in that you use it while seated, which takes stress off your back and
eliminates potential additional body fatigue."
 — Emilia Benton, SFGate.com (San Francisco), 15 Dec. 2022

The declining retirement security faced by growing numbers of Americans is being exacerbated by increasing longevity and quickly rising health care costs.
—Jeff Madrick, New York Review of Books, 20 Mar. 2008

Did You Know?
The Latin adjective acer, meaning "sharp," forms the basis of a number of English words.
Acerbic ("having a bitter temper or sour mood"), acrid ("having a sharp taste or odor"), and acrimony ("a harsh manner or disposition") are just the tip of the jagged iceberg.
First appearing in English in the 17th century, exacerbate combines the Latin prefix ex- ("out of" or "outside") with acer offspring acerbus, meaning "harsh" or "bitter."
Just as pouring salt in a wound worsens pain, things that exacerbate cause a situation to go from bad to worse.
A pointed insult or cutting remark, for example, might exacerbate tensions between two bitter rivals. The legacy of acer isn't all negative, however. The Latin name for the genus of maple trees and shrubs is Acer, owing to maples’ characteristically pointy leaves.

Exacerbate is frequently confused with exasperate, and with good reason.
Not only do these words resemble one another in spelling and pronunciation, they also at one time held exceedingly similar meanings.
Exasperate is today most commonly used as a synonym of annoy, but for several hundred years it also had the meanings “to make more grievous” and “to make harsh or harsher.”
Exacerbate is now the more common choice of these two words when one seeks to indicate that something is becoming increasingly bitter, violent, or unpleasant.
It comes in part from the Latin word acer, meaning “sharp,” whereas exasperate is from asper, the Latin word for “rough.”