These three verbs begin and end in the same way. The letters in the middle make all the difference.

The verb exacerbate means to make something worse. When a problem or bad situation is exacerbated, it becomes more serious, severe or violent.

The verb exaggerate means to treat something as bigger or greater than it really is. When a problem is exaggerated, it's overstated or overemphasized. The noun form of the word is exaggeration.

The verb exasperate means to annoy, irritate, or anger someone. When people become exasperated, they're fed up or angry. The noun form is exasperation.

Examples:

• "Because the shoulder is so foundational to swimming, anyone seeking to rest his or her arm should look elsewhere. Swimming will only exacerbate any pain, irritation, swelling, or damage already present in the joint."
  (James R. Andrews, Any Given Monday: Sports Injuries and How to Prevent Them. Scribner, 2013)
• "Most writers tend to exaggerate the obstacles to getting good work done. Even a small technical problem--let's say, how to revise a draft--can leave them mired and hopeless."
  (Stephen Koch, The Modern Library Writer's Workshop: A Guide to the Craft of Fiction. Modern Library, 2003)
• "I am thinking of my daughter. At once an angry buzzing of emotions starts up in my breast. She exasperates me, I confess it."
  (John Banville, Eclipse. Knopf, 2001)
• "While population growth, communications, transportation, economic interdependency, and numerous other factors encourage a global-village vision of our world, fear, competition, and dogmatic political and religious ideologies exaggerate differences and exacerbate tensions."
  (Duane Cady, From Warism to Pacifism: A Moral Continuum, 2nd ed. Temple University Press, 2010)

Usage Notes:

• "Exasperate, exacerbate. These two words are sometimes confused.
  
  "Exasperate, the more common of the two, means 'to irritate or annoy to an extreme degree': He emails me stupid jokes all day long. It's exasperating!
  
  Exacerbate means 'to increase the bitterness or severity' of something. Why does she insist on saying 'helpful' things that only exacerbate matters?"
  (Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus, 3rd ed. Oxford University Press, 2012)
• "Overexaggerate is not a word. Exaggerate alone is sufficient."
  (Dave Dowling, The Wrong Word Dictionary: 2,500 Most Commonly Confused Words, 2nd ed. Marion Street Press, 2011)
• Liz: It's just with Ed here, it's no wonder I always bring my flatmates out and then that only exacerbates things.
  Shaun: What do you mean?
  Liz: Well, you guys hardly get on, do you?
  Shaun: No, what does "exacerbate" mean?
  Liz: It means, um, to make things worse.
  (Kate Ashfield and Simon Pegg in Shaun of the Dead, 2004)

Practice:

(a) "He wasn't trying to hurt your feelings. He just worries about you, same as you worry about him. You _____ each other, is all."
(Richard Russo, Empire Falls. Alfred A. Knopf, 2001)

(b) "It is possible that police actions to reduce drug marketing actually _____ the situation by creating new employment vacancies in illegal organizations"
(Immigrant and Minority Entrepreneurship, ed. by J.S. Butler and G. Kozmetsky. Praeguer, 2004)

(c) "Someone should have told Andy Warhol, 'I've told you ten million times, don't _____.' The idea that everyone will have his or her fifteen minutes of fame is ridiculous."
(Stephen Frantzich, Honored Guests: Citizen Heroes and the State of the Union. Rowman & Littlefield, 2011)

Answers to Practice Exercises

Glossary of Usage: Index of Commonly Confused Words

200 Homonyms, Homophones, and Homographs