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aggravate

[ ag-ruh-veyt ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

verb (used with object)

aggravated, aggravating.

to make worse or more severe; intensify, as anything evil, disorderly, or troublesome:
to aggravate a grievance; to aggravate an illness.
Synonyms: ,
Antonyms:
to annoy; irritate; exasperate:
His questions aggravate her.
Synonyms: , ,
to cause to become irritated or inflamed:
The child's constant scratching aggravated the rash.

aggravate

/ ˈæɡ��əˌ��ɪ�� /

verb

to make (a disease, situation, problem, etc) worse or more severe
informal.
to annoy; exasperate, esp by deliberate and persistent goading

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Usage Note

The two most common senses of aggravate are “to make worse” and “to annoy or exasperate.” Both senses first appeared in the early 17th century at almost the same time; the corresponding two senses of the noun aggravation also appeared then. Both senses of aggravate and aggravation have been standard since then. The use of aggravate to mean “annoy” is sometimes objected to because it departs from the etymological meaning “to make heavier,” and in formal speech and writing the sense “annoy” is somewhat less frequent than “to make worse.” The noun aggravation meaning “annoyance” occurs in all types of speech and writing.

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Derived Forms

ˌ��ˈ��پ��ǲ�, noun
ˈ��ˌ��پ��Բ�, adjective

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Other Word Forms

��g��·��t�� adjective
��g��·��t�ǰ� noun
��v��·��g��·��ٱ� verb (used with object) overaggravated overaggravating
��·��g��·��ٱ� verb (used with object) preaggravated preaggravating
��·��g��·��ٱ� verb (used with object) reaggravated reaggravating

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Word History and Origins

Origin of aggravate¹

1425–75; late Middle English < Latin ��ٳܲ� (past participle of �� ), equivalent to ag- ag- + grav- ( grave ² ) + -��ٳܲ� -ate ¹; aggrieve

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Word History and Origins

Origin of aggravate¹

C16: from Latin �� to make heavier, from gravis heavy

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Synonym Study

Aggravate, intensify both mean to increase in degree. To aggravate is to make more serious or more grave: to aggravate a danger, an offense, a wound. To intensify is perceptibly to increase intensity, force, energy, vividness, etc.: to intensify heat, color, rage.

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

The singer has been open about his arrests for drug crimes and other offenses, including a conviction for aggravated robbery at 16 where he was charged as an adult.

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People generally use "Kafkaesque" as a metaphor, perhaps to describe an especially aggravating trip to the DMV.

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My confusion on this issue made me realize that this was a systematic contradiction throughout Hallow, which only grew more aggravating the more I listened.

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Cody Balmer faces charges of attempted murder, terrorism, aggravated arson and aggravated assault.

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One aggravating visual tic is that most of the male characters are photocopies of each other, a stack of handsome men with sandy brown goatees.

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Related Words

aggrandizement aggravated

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