Do Not Exacerbate My Exasperation
Two frequently misused words which can make you sound very foolish when you mix them up, or quite brilliant if you get them right, are exasperate and exacerbate. The problem is really quite simple, as the words have nothing at all in common except the prefix “ex-.”
Exasperate (/eks ASS purr ate/) means to make angry or to cause one to lose patience. It comes from the Latin “ex-” (out of) and “spero” (hope) — literally, to exasperate someone is to make them lose their hope in you.
Exacerbate (/eks ASS ur bate/) means to make something worse. It also comes from the Latin: “exacerbare” (to make thoroughly harsh) — literally, to exacerbate something is to make it as terrible as it can be.
The problem with these two is really just sloppy pronunciation. Remember that People are made exasPerated, while proBlems are exaceBated, and you may have an easier time with these two words.