Word · Frequency #7893
exacerbate
激怒；使恼火
to irritate or annoy
- 1.
To make worse (a problem, bad situation, negative feeling, etc.).
使(问题、困境、负面情绪等)恶化
使(问题、困境、负面情绪等)恶化；使恶化；使增剧；激怒；使加剧
In use
Her loud chewing at dinner really exacerbates me.
The teacher's unfair comment exacerbated the shy student.
Don't exacerbate him with more questions; he is already upset.
exacerbate + noun (direct object)
直接跟名词，表示使某事物恶化。
The drought exacerbated the crisis.
干旱加剧了危机。
exacerbate + a problem/situation/conflict
常与problem, situation, conflict等搭配。
His comments only exacerbated the situation.
他的评论只会使情况恶化。
be exacerbated by + noun/gerund
被动语态，表示被……加剧。
The pain was exacerbated by the cold weather.
寒冷天气加剧了疼痛。
exacerbate + the + noun + of + noun
常用结构：exacerbate the [症状/影响] of [疾病/问题]。
Smoking exacerbates the symptoms of asthma.
吸烟加剧哮喘症状。
Verb forms
base exacerbate · third person exacerbates · -ing exacerbating · past exacerbated · past participle exacerbated
规则动词，过去式和过去分词加-ed。
Common mistakes
This decision will only exacerbation the problem.This decision will only exacerbate the problem.
exacerbation 是名词，而这里需要动词，所以应使用动词 exacerbate。
The drought exacerbated on the food shortage.The drought exacerbated the food shortage.
exacerbate 是及物动词，后面直接跟宾语，不需要介词 on。
Connections
Collocations
- exacerbate a problem
- 加剧问题
- The lack of funding will exacerbate the problem.资金缺乏会加剧问题。
- exacerbate tensions
- 加剧紧张局势
- His remarks only served to exacerbate tensions.他的言论只会加剧紧张局势。
- exacerbate symptoms
- 加重症状
- Stress can exacerbate symptoms of the disease.压力会加重疾病的症状。
- exacerbate conflict
- 加剧冲突
- The decision may exacerbate the conflict between the two groups.这一决定可能加剧两派之间的冲突。
- exacerbate the situation
- 使局势恶化
- Further delays will only exacerbate the situation.进一步的延误只会使局势恶化。
- exacerbate pain
Learner notes
Memory Tip
由‘ex-’（向外）和‘acerb’（酸涩）构成，想象向酸涩的伤口撒盐，使痛苦加剧。
Context & Register
通常用于正式或学术语境，描述问题、状况、关系等恶化。常见于医学、经济、社会议题。
Pronunciation & Spelling
These words all end in -ate, but their stressed syllables differ from 'exacerbate', so they are not rhymes. For example, 'exacerbate' stress is on 'sæs', while 'debate' stress is on 'beɪt'. Watch out for lookalikes like 'exaggerate' and 'exasperate' which have similar spelling but different vowel sounds.
Usage priority
Collins 词频等级为 1，建议结合例句记忆，而不是只背中文释义。
Learn the forms together
页面下方列出了常见词形变化。学习时注意它们在句子中的语法位置。
Dictionary facts from ECDICT, WIKTIONARY, WORDNET.