EXACERBATING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does exacerbating mean? 

• EXACERBATING (adjective)
  The adjective EXACERBATING has 1 sense:

1. making worse

  Familiarity information: EXACERBATING used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EXACERBATING (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Making worse

Synonyms:

aggravating; exacerbating; exasperating

Similar:

intensifying (increasing in strength or intensity)

 Context examples 

The study’s projections say warming-induced glacial melts will spike dangerously, increasing river flows, between 2050 and 2060, exacerbating the risk of high-altitude glacial lakes overflowing and, consequently, flooding communities.

(Bulk of Himalayan glaciers could vanish by 2100, SciDev.Net)

Evidence increasingly suggests that this oceanic current system is slowing down, and some scientists fear it could have major effects, such as causing temperatures to dive in Europe and warming the waters off the eastern coast of the USA, potentially harming fisheries and exacerbating hurricanes.

(A new study is the first to measure the time lags between changing ocean currents and major climate shifts., University of Cambridge)