aggravation
Americannoun
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an increase in intensity, seriousness, or severity; act of making worse.
an aggravation of pain.
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the state of being aggravated.
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something that causes an increase in intensity, degree, or severity.
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annoyance; exasperation.
Johnny causes me so much aggravation!
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a source or cause of annoyance or exasperation.
Johnny's such an aggravation to her!
Usage
See aggravate.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of aggravation
1475–85; < Medieval Latin aggravātiōn- (stem of aggravātiō ); see aggravate, -ion
Explanation
An aggravation is something that makes a situation or condition worse. Getting hot and sweaty might result in an aggravation of your poison ivy rash. An aggravation of symptoms in a hospital patient is a bad sign — things are becoming more serious. Another, less formal way to use the noun aggravation is to mean something that annoys or bothers you. You might say, "Having to take the bus is such an aggravation — I'd much rather drive my car." The Latin root of aggravation is aggravare, "make heavier," or "increase in oppressiveness."
Vocabulary lists containing aggravation
Good Grief!: Grav, Griev
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Life Is So Good
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Old Yeller
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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:
The stop-start feature helps lower emissions—and raises Americans’ aggravation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 6, 2026
To do that you have to put up with the aggravation, the late-night calls or the dumb questions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2025
"Is it worth the aggravation to find yourself a job when there's nothing worth working for?" snarled Liam.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2025
Despite maintaining no wrongdoing, Ms Bellamy said she offered to take down the recipes from future reprints "to prevent further aggravation", and that this was communicated "swiftly" to Ms Maehashi.
From BBC ● Apr. 30, 2025
Under this law the Court is able to hear evidence as to the aggravation or mitigation of the offense.
From "Native Son" by Richard Wright
There, among the seamstresses in training, Duncan met other welfare mothers, equally desperate, and recognized the stinginess, indifference and bureaucratic aggravations she’d been suffering in isolation were part of a larger system.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
Such are the occasional aggravations and annoyances that bedevil the tony section of Los Angeles that Harris calls home.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2024
"A number of factors have also been added to the list of aggravations, while sentencing ranges have been increased for certain offences."
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2023
I wailed, the aggravations, wasted hours and general insanities of technology culminating in that one moment.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 18, 2023
We didn’t fight often, and when we did, it was typically over petty things, a string of pent-up aggravations that surfaced usually when one or both of us got overly fatigued or stressed.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
