AMELIORATE and EXACERBATE are antonyms. AMELIORATE means to make better and EXACERBATE means to make worse.
AMELIORATE and EXACERBATE are classic SAT words that are making frequent appearances on vocabulary in context questions. Thus far, AMELIORATE has been a correct answer to questions in the Robot Cluster and the Fix a Problem Cluster. Let’s begin with these examples:
In the Robot Cluster bipedal locomotion and other humanoid features can help to AMELIORATE the unsettling effect of the more unnatural aspects of a robot’s appearance. In the Fix a Problem Cluster research on income inequality suffers from an overreliance on data from Western Europe and North America. Researchers are attempting to AMELIORATE this shortcoming by gaining access to new information from nations in Africa and Eastern Europe.
EXACERBATE made its debut as a One Hit Wonder on the August 22, 2026 SAT. The test included a particularly difficult and now infamous “Water Scarcity” question. The passage begins by informing test takers that hydrogen production via water electrolysis is a new industry with a negligible or minimal impact on water usage. As a result, it is unlikely to EXACERBATE water scarcity in countries like South Korea, Iraq, Sudan, and China.
Be CAREFUL – both AMELIORATE and especially EXACERBATE can appear as wrong answers. For example, in one vocabulary in context question, scholars attempt to redress or remedy the long-standing trend of overemphasizing teenagers and young adults in research on media use. They do not EXACERBATE or worsen this trend!
AMELIORATE – to make better
EXACERBATE – to make worse