aggro

American  

[ag-roh] / ˈæg roʊ /

noun

1. Chiefly British and Australian Informal. trouble; irritation.

   I'm at a place in my life where I don't want any aggro.

2. British and Australian Informal. aggressiveness, especially that of an urban youth gang or gang member.

3. (in a video game) the triggering of an enemy attack or the state of being targeted for attack; enmity; hate.

   Oof, aggro will be an issue if you try to cross a level 80 zone with a level 62 character.

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verb (used with or without object)

aggroed, aggro-ed, aggroing, aggro-ing

1. (in a video game)

   1. (of an enemy character) to become alert to and then target a player character for an attack: Some enemies only aggro to sound, so keep silence potions in your inventory.

      A mob aggroed our Ninja, who dragged it back to camp, which didn’t end well for any of us.

      Some enemies only aggro to sound, so keep silence potions in your inventory.

   2. (of aplayer character ) to strategically draw the attention of an enemy character programmed to attack, in order to counterattack.

      If you aggro all of the low-level enemies in this dungeon, you can take them out with a single spell.

aggro British  

/ ˈæɡrəʊ /

noun

1. slang aggressive behaviour, esp by youths in a gang

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Etymology

Origin of aggro

First recorded in 1965–70; construed as a shortening of either aggravation or aggression (or aggressive ); -o

Example Sentences

Had you turned on any sports chat show in the past week, you’d have heard aggro dissections of Philadelphia’s “simmering dysfunction”—sports dysfunction must always simmer, like a good chili.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 24, 2025

Viewers also witnessed King of the Nice Guys Marshall Glaze get kicked to the curb by his fiancé-for-a-hot-minute Jackelina Bonds, who chose Marshall's aggro rival Josh Demas instead.

From Salon • Apr. 17, 2023

The music is the perfect soundtrack to Fieri’s food: dishes that are a little aggro, a little boastful and very much up in your grill.

From Washington Post • Mar. 6, 2023

But the slightly aggro approach paid off in Wallen’s stark rendition of Jason Isbell’s “Cover Me Up,” where he squared up against the microphone like a baseball player with a bat.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 25, 2022

You might think I was being a little aggro here, but I was cautious and conservative compared to a lot of the Xnetters.

From Little Brother by Doctorow, Cory

Related Words

• irritation