exacerbate the problem

Meaning

This formal phrase means to make an existing issue or bad situation even worse, more severe, or more intense. It is commonly used in professional and academic settings when discussing crises, financial setbacks, or operational bottlenecks. The tone is objective and analytical, focusing on cause-and-effect relationships.

Examples

• Cutting the budget now will only exacerbate the problem and delay the project further.

  Cutting the budget now will only exacerbate the problem and delay the project further.

• Our lack of communication during the system outage served to exacerbate the problem.

  Our lack of communication during the system outage served to exacerbate the problem.

• Hiring untrained temporary staff might exacerbate the problem instead of solving it.

  Hiring untrained temporary staff might exacerbate the problem instead of solving it.

• Ignoring customer complaints will inevitably exacerbate the problem and damage our reputation.

  Ignoring customer complaints will inevitably exacerbate the problem and damage our reputation.

• The supply chain disruption has exacerbated the problem of inventory shortages.

  The supply chain disruption has exacerbated the problem of inventory shortages.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ We don't want to exasperate the problem.

  ✓ We don't want to exacerbate the problem.

  'Exasperate' means to intensely irritate or annoy a person, whereas 'exacerbate' means to make a situation or problem worse.

• ✗ The new policy exacerbated the problem to be worse.

  ✓ The new policy exacerbated the problem.

  'Exacerbate' already means 'to make worse', so adding 'to be worse' is redundant.

Related Expressions

Practice

• Rushing the software release without proper testing will only ___.

  💡 make the existing bad situation worse

  Show answer

  exacerbate the problem

• Instead of offering a solution, his defensive response served to ___.

  💡 intensify the conflict or issue

  Show answer

  exacerbate the problem