Word.ws English Dictionary

makes matters worse

makes matters worse is the third-person singular simple present indicative of make matters worse.

Meaning of make matters worse

Verb

make matters worse (third-person singular simple present makes matters worse, present participle making matters worse, simple past and past participle made matters worse)

  1. (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.

Questions about makes matters worse

What is makes matters worse the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Makes matters worse is the third-person singular simple present indicative of make matters worse.

Words near makes matters worse in the dictionary

  1. makes like a tree and leaves
  2. makes like a trees
  3. makes little of
  4. makes love
  5. makes love to the camera
  6. makes matters worse
  7. makes mention
  8. makes mention of
  9. makes merry
  10. makes mincemeat of
  11. makes mincemeat out of

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: makes matters worse (page history and authors); make matters worse (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “makes matters worse.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/makes_matters_worse. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.