The quality or state of becoming increasingly bitter, harsh, or aggravated; gradual worsening.
From Latin exacerbescere 'to become more bitter' (ex- + acerbus + -escence, suffix meaning 'becoming'). A rare, archaic form emphasizing the process of becoming worse.
This is an almost forgotten word that captures something beautiful—the gradual, almost chemical process of things getting worse, like exacerbation's poetic older cousin from centuries past.
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