aggravate

[ ag-ruh-veyt ]

verb (used with object)

, ag·gra·vat·ed, ag·gra·vat·ing.

1. to make worse or more severe; intensify, as anything evil, disorderly, or troublesome:

   to aggravate a grievance; to aggravate an illness.

   Synonyms: increase, heighten

   Antonyms: alleviate

2. to annoy; irritate; exasperate:

   His questions aggravate her.

   Synonyms: rile, vex, anger

3. to cause to become irritated or inflamed:

   The child's constant scratching aggravated the rash.

aggravate

/ ˈæɡrəˌveɪt /

verb

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

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.

Derived Forms

• ˈaggraˌvating, adjective
• ˌaggraˈvation, noun

Other Words From

• aggra·vative adjective
• aggra·vator noun
• over·aggra·vate verb (used with object) overaggravated overaggravating
• pre·aggra·vate verb (used with object) preaggravated preaggravating
• re·aggra·vate verb (used with object) reaggravated reaggravating

Word History and Origins

Origin of aggravate¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of aggravate¹

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

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.

Example Sentences

Going off your meds is a surefire way to aggravate your doctor.

From Fortune

Westbrook will miss time with a left quadriceps injury he initially suffered during training camp last month and aggravated at Philadelphia last week.

From Washington Post

The discontent has arguably been aggravated by Robinhood’s approach to customer service.

From Fortune

While the argument for using dark text on light backgrounds is fairly strong, however, the argument that it makes the experience aggravating for some also holds true.

From Search Engine Watch

The problem is, if you have too many redirects on your site, you can start to aggravate your site visitors.

From Search Engine Watch

In the coming decade, new robotic technologies could further aggravate the problem.

From The Daily Beast

He said austerity is pushing the euro zone into recession, which will further aggravate political tensions.

From The Daily Beast

Medicaid Plus will thus aggravate the horrific budget crisis of the states.

From The Daily Beast

This, in turn, serves to amplify and aggravate differences of interest and power among the competing national groups.

From The Daily Beast

He had the innate slant of mind that properly belongs to a moderator of mass meetings called to aggravate a crisis.

From Project Gutenberg

You judged us both as undesirables, therefore any attempt at explanation would, I know, only aggravate our offence in your eyes.

From Project Gutenberg

The internal divisions, too, aggravate our weakness; and now, even Most has turned apostate.

From Project Gutenberg

Menstruation may aggravate goitre, uterine fibroid tumours, skin diseases, and affections of the blood vessels.

From Project Gutenberg

Symptoms should not be mistaken for causes, but pelvic diseases at least aggravate a tendency toward mental unbalance.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• complicate
• deepen
• exacerbate
• exaggerate
• heighten
• inflame
• intensify
• magnify
• worsen