exacerbate the situation

Meaning

To make an already bad, difficult, or problematic situation even worse, more severe, or more intense. This is a highly formal alternative to 'make things worse' or 'add fuel to the fire.'

Examples

• Issuing a defensive public statement might only exacerbate the situation.

  Issuing a defensive public statement might only exacerbate the situation.

• The sudden increase in interest rates will exacerbate the situation for small businesses.

  The sudden increase in interest rates will exacerbate the situation for small businesses.

• Delaying the product recall will likely exacerbate the situation and damage our reputation.

  Delaying the product recall will likely exacerbate the situation and damage our reputation.

• His refusal to apologize served only to exacerbate the situation with the client.

  His refusal to apologize served only to exacerbate the situation with the client.

• Adding more tasks to an already overwhelmed team will exacerbate the situation.

  Adding more tasks to an already overwhelmed team will exacerbate the situation.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ The bad weather will exaggerating the situation.

  ✓ The bad weather will exacerbate the situation.

  Learners often confuse 'exacerbate' (make worse) with 'exaggerate' (represent something as larger or more important than it actually is).

• ✗ Her comments exacerbated to the situation.

  ✓ Her comments exacerbated the situation.

  'Exacerbate' is a transitive verb and directly takes an object without the preposition 'to'.

Related Expressions

Practice

• Please do not reply to that angry email; it will only ___.

  💡 Make a bad situation worse.

  Show answer

  exacerbate the situation

• Cutting the budget during a crisis might ___ for our department.

  💡 Intensify or worsen the current problem.

  Show answer

  exacerbate the situation