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ex·ac·er·bate
 exacerbate
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- pronunciation:
- ihg
zae
s
 r
beIt
- features:
- Word Combinations (verb)
| part of speech: |
transitive verb |
| inflections: |
exacerbates, exacerbating, exacerbated |
| definition 1: |
to increase the painfulness or severity of (illness, suffering, hard feelings, or the like); aggravate.
The government's indecision only exacerbated what was already a bad situation.Applying heat to the injury will exacerbate the swelling.Their refusal to speak to each other exacerbated the tension between them.- antonyms:
- allay, alleviate, assuage, counteract, heal, moderate, relieve
- similar words:
- aggravate, compound, exasperate
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| definition 2: |
to cause bitterness or exasperation in (someone).
Their stubborn denial of the facts exacerbated him.- similar words:
- embitter
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| related words: |
intensify, irritate |
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| derivations: |
exacerbatingly (adv.), exacerbation (n.) |
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