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29 Mar 2020
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What is the difference between exacerbate and worsen and deteriorate and aggravate ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.
What is the difference between exacerbate and worsen and deteriorate and aggravate ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.
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- English (US)
All of these words mean roughly the same thing (to get worse).
Deteriorate means to get worse, but it implies something happening over time. "The abandoned building deteriorated over the years due to no one maintaining it."
There is a more subtle difference between exacerbate, aggravate, and worsen. Something can worsen without an outside force acting on it. "As John walked further into the woods, the weather worsened."
Exacerbate and aggravate are used when an outside force makes something worse. "John's truck got stuck in the mud, and him revving his engine only exacerbated the problem.
Exacerbate and aggravate are also slightly different from each other. Aggravate often implies an intention to make things worse, whereas something can be exacerbated by accident. Aggravate also has a second meaning; to annoy or provoke someone.
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