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Instigate vs Exacerbate - What's the difference?

instigate | exacerbate |

As verbs the difference between instigate and exacerbate

is that instigate is to goad or urge forward; to set on; to provoke; to incite while exacerbate is to make worse (pain, anger, etc); aggravate.

instigate

English

(Webster 1913)

Verb

(instigat)
  • To goad or urge forward; to set on; to provoke; to incite.
    • He hath only instigated his blackest agents to the very extent of their malignity. -Bp. Warburton.

    Usage notes

    Commonly used with reference to evil actions; as, to instigate one to a crime.

    Synonyms

    * (to goad or urge forward): animate, encourage, impel, incite, provoke, spur, stimulate, tempt, urge

    Antonyms

    * (to goad or urge forward): halt, prevent, stop

    Derived terms

    * instigation * instigator

    External links

    * * ----

    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 ----