aggravate
Americanverb (used with object)
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aggravates,
present (3rd person singular)
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aggravated,
past participle, past
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aggravating
present participle
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to make worse or more severe; intensify, as anything evil, disorderly, or troublesome.
to aggravate a grievance; to aggravate an illness.
- Antonyms:
- alleviate
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to annoy; irritate; exasperate.
His questions aggravate her.
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to cause to become irritated or inflamed.
The child's constant scratching aggravated the rash.
verb
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to make (a disease, situation, problem, etc) worse or more severe
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informal to annoy; exasperate, esp by deliberate and persistent goading
Usage
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.
Synonym Usage
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.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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aggravationnoun
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aggravatornoun
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overaggravateverb (used with object)
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preaggravateverb (used with object)
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reaggravateverb (used with object)
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aggravatingadjective
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aggravativeadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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aggravatesimple
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aggravatessimple
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have aggravatedperfect
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has aggravatedperfect
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am aggravatingprogressive
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are aggravatingprogressive
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is aggravatingprogressive
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have been aggravatingperfect progressive
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has been aggravatingperfect progressive
Past
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aggravatedsimple
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had aggravatedperfect
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was aggravatingprogressive
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were aggravatingprogressive
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had been aggravatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of aggravate
1425–75; late Middle English < Latin aggravātus (past participle of aggravāre ), equivalent to ag- ag- + grav- ( see grave 2) + -ātus -ate 1; cf. aggrieve
Explanation
People who chew with their mouths open often aggravate the people near them, meaning that they exasperate their neighbors. One trick for remembering the meaning of aggravate is to recall that it rhymes with one of its synonyms, irritate. When you irritate, you aggravate. Younger brothers often aggravate their older brothers, because they find it entertaining to get a reaction out of them. Aggravate is also used to mean "make worse." For example, if you have an old knee injury, it's probably best not to climb Mount Everest, because you might aggravate the injury. If your house is in foreclosure, calling your banker an ugly name is likely only to aggravate the situation. Try a little sweet talk instead!
Vocabulary lists containing aggravate
Good Grief!: Grav, Griev
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100 Great Words from "Fahrenheit 451" -- Part I Vocabulary
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Commonly Confused Words, List 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Alongside greenhouse gases, gas plants emit fine particulate matter, linked to a range of heart and lung problems; nitrogen oxides, which aggravate respiratory disease; and hazardous air pollutants including mercury, formaldehyde and benzene.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
The props, theatrical at times, seemed to aggravate Waters, then the Democratic chairwoman of the Financial Services Committee.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 11, 2026
And people do leave, including the ones Lemon seems to aggravate the most.
From Slate ● Feb. 4, 2026
This heightened sensitivity can aggravate high blood pressure, diabetes and other chronic illnesses as well as raise the risks of accidents, falls and fractures.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2025
I was peeved enough at Roy Lee to not answer, but then I figured it would aggravate him more to tell the truth.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
NOx is a smog-forming pollutant that aggravates respiratory illnesses, especially asthma, forms acid rain and contributes to nutrient pollution in coastal waters.
From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026
The document asks all the right questions and reaches all the wrong conclusions—the way a doctor might correctly identify symptoms and then prescribe a remedy that aggravates the disease.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
"The worst time for me is when we're driving in the autumn and the sun is low and the sun is flickering through the trees...it really aggravates," says Dr Munro.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2025
Padgett prays daily to help him manage the pain of his third bout of cancer and the multiple herniated disks that sleeping on the ground aggravates.
From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2025
It wouldn't hurt if he weren't right—if I hadn't known somewhere that my weakness aggravates him.
From "Will Grayson, Will Grayson" by John Green and David Levithan
He later served time in prison, pleading guilty to wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and other charges, but President Donald Trump commuted his sentence in October 2025.
From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2026
But the Dodgers previously believed only pitching aggravated the injury.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
Renault will face a criminal trial in France on aggravated fraud charges over accusations that devices in its diesel cars were designed to cheat clean air laws, the public prosecutor's office told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
It said that Rhodes "thoroughly warranted a long minimum term", but that aspects of the case should have further aggravated the sentence.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
This enforced separation from his family aggravated the hatred for America that he’d felt since 1976, when he lost his case in federal court and refused thereafter to pay taxes.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
Kazakhstan's cloud-seeding trials raised alarm in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan where fears were flagged of "cloud theft" -- alleging that rain clouds could be diverted to Kazakhstan, aggravating its own drought.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
Because only pitching seems to be aggravating the injury, Ohtani will continue to play at designated hitter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
It specified 10 aggravating factors, the presence of which would allow a jury to return a death sentence in the belief that such “guided discretion” would pass constitutional muster.
From Slate ● Jun. 8, 2026
“This whole thing is aggravating because there’s no place in America where you can just take it down the road,” said Terry White, Discovery’s retired orbital processing chief.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026
“I know, thank you. Don’t point,” she said, and paid her bill with aggravating slowness.
From "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
