different between exacerbate vs acerb

English

Etymology

From Latin exacerbo (“to provoke”); ex (“out of; thoroughly”) + acerbo (“to embitter, harshen or worsen”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /???zæs??be?t/, /?k?sæs-/
• (US) enPR: ?g-z?s'?r-b?t, IPA^(key): /???zæs??be?t/

Verb

exacerbate (third-person singular simple present exacerbates, present participle exacerbating, simple past and past participle exacerbated)

1. (transitive) To make worse (a problem, bad situation, negative feeling, etc.); aggravate; exasperate.

   The proposed shutdown would exacerbate unemployment problems.

   • 2013, Louise Taylor, English talent gets left behind as Premier League keeps importing (in The Guardian, 20 August 2013)[1]

     The reasons for this growing disconnect are myriad and complex but the situation is exacerbated by the reality that those English players who do smash through our game's "glass ceiling" command radically inflated transfer fees.

Derived terms

• exacerbatingly
• exacerbation

Related terms

• acerbate

Translations

See also

• exasperate

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “exacerbate”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Latin

Verb

exacerb?te

1. second-person plural present active imperative of exacerb?

English

Etymology

Latin acerbus, from Latin ?cer (“sharp”): compare French acerbe. See acrid.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??s??b/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /??s??b/

Adjective

acerb (comparative acerber or more acerb, superlative acerbest or most acerb)

1. (archaic) Sour, bitter, and harsh to the taste, as unripe fruit.

   Synonym: acerbic
2. (archaic, figuratively) Sharp and harsh in expressing oneself.

   Synonym: acerbic

   • 1909, Canada. Parliament. House of Commons, Debates: Official Report (volume 1, page 1970)

     As to the somewhat acerb remarks of the member for Jacques Cartier, I may pass them over […]

Related terms

• acerbate
• acerbically
• acerbity
• exacerbate

Translations

References

• acerb in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• Brace, brace, caber, cabre, cabré

Romanian

Etymology

From French acerbe, from Latin acerbus.

Adjective

acerb m or n (feminine singular acerb?, masculine plural acerbi, feminine and neuter plural acerbe)

1. harsh, unkind

Declension