make matters worse
To worsen an already difficult situation or unfavourable set of circumstances,…To worsen an already difficult situation or unfavourable set of circumstances, typically by acting rashly, foolishly, or incompetently.
» That only makes the problem worse.
Das macht das Problem nur schlimmer. — Micsmithel
Das verschärft nur das Problem. — Micsmithel
Das verschlimmert nur das Problem. — Micsmithel
Это только усугубляет проблему. — Lenin_1917
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
1 senses(idiomatic)To worsen an already difficult situation or unfavourable set of circumstances, typically by acting rashly, foolishly, or incompetently.
His resentful attitude only made matters worse during the custody proceedings.
Examples
157 sentencesThat only makes the problem worse.
ruЭто только усугубляет проблему. — Lenin_1917
deDas macht das Problem nur schlimmer. — Micsmithel
Let's not make things any worse.
Let's not make this any worse.
That may actually make things worse.
Doing that will only make things worse.
ruЕсли это сделать, будет только хуже. — marafon
Translations
3 languagesForms
makes matters worse, making matters worse, made matters worse, made matters worse| Base form | make matters worse · to make matters worse |
|---|---|
| 3rd person singular | makes matters worse |
| Present participle | making matters worse |
| Past simple | made matters worse |
| Past participle | made matters worse |
irregular · Lesson
Synonyms
16 synonymsAntonyms
3 antonymsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, irregular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.