exacerbate
ig-ZAS-er-baytverbMeaning to make a problem or pain worse
Memory hook ex-ACERB-ate: add more SOUR to the sour. Kai is already puckering from one lemon, and his brother hands him another. Adding sour to sour is how you exacerbate a problem.
Scratching a mosquito bite only exacerbates the itch.
In context The drought was bad enough, but the town exacerbated the problem by watering its golf course every afternoon while the reservoir dried up.
Similar worsen, aggravate, intensify, inflame
Opposite alleviate, ease, mitigate
From Latin exacerbare, “to irritate, to make harsh”: ex (thoroughly) + acerbus (harsh, bitter).