Acerbate is a verb that means to make worse.

The Latin word acerbus (ah CHAIR bus) means ‘bitter’ or ‘sour.’ When we make something bitter or worsen it, we acerbate it. Here’s an example of acerbate used in proper context:

Weather like this tends to acerbate an already awful day. It’s bad enough that our softball team is horrible, but on top of that, today’s game gets cancelled.