empirer

Empirer is a French verb meaning to become worse or to deteriorate. It describes a process by which conditions, situations, health, or quality decline over time.

The verb is used both intransitively and transitively: la situation empire (the situation is worsening) and empirer une situation (to make a situation worse). It is a regular -er verb and follows the standard conjugation patterns of French -er verbs. In the present tense, for example, forms include j’empire and il empire, with the other persons following the typical endings for regular -er verbs. The past tenses are formed with the auxiliary avoir, as in j’ai empiré.

Usage of empire appears across contexts such as journalism, medicine, and social commentary, where observers describe worsening conditions, trends, or outcomes. Examples include statements like “La situation empire rapidement” (the situation is getting worse quickly) or “Si la maladie empire, il faut intervenir.” The verb’s common antonym is améliorer, meaning to improve or to become better.

Notes and related concepts: empier appears in everyday French to convey deterioration, and it should not be confused with the noun empire, which means a political realm or empire. In bilingual discussions, empire may be encountered as both a noun and a verb form, depending on context. Empirer remains a straightforward, regular French verb used to express decline or deterioration.