exacerbation
noun
[ ɪɡzasəˈbeɪʃ(ə)n ]
• the process of making a problem, bad situation, or negative feeling worse.
• "a lack of stress reduction skills can lead to the exacerbation of existing problems and the onset of many others"
Origin:
late Middle English (in the sense ‘provocation to anger’): from Latin exacerbatio(n-), from the verb exacerbare (see exacerbate).
