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Exacerbate vs Devastate - What's the difference?

exacerbate | devastate |

As verbs the difference between exacerbate and devastate

is that exacerbate is to make worse (pain, anger, etc); aggravate while devastate is to ruin many or all things over a large area, such as most or all buildings of a city, or cities of a region, or trees of a forest.

exacerbate

English

Verb

(exacerbat)
  • To make worse (pain, anger, etc.); aggravate.
  • 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)[http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2013/aug/19/english-talent-premier-league-importing]
  • 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

    See also

    * exasperate ----

    devastate

    English

    Verb

    (devastat)
  • To ruin many or all things over a large area, such as most or all buildings of a city, or cities of a region, or trees of a forest.
  • To destroy a whole collection of related ideas, beliefs, and strongly held opinions.
  • To break beyond recovery or repair so that the only options are abandonment or the clearing away of useless remains (if any) and starting over.