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:
That will aggravate a budget deficit that already exceeded 6% of gross domestic product last year.
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 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
They can also aggravate conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease, according to a paper published in Environmental Health Perspectives.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2025
Abuela is complaining that there was too much salt in the ropa vieja, that high blood pressure runs in the family, and that Rosario should be careful not to aggravate their condition.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
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
At that time, conditions were much the same as they are now: El Nino aggravated a heat wave that had begun in 2014.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
Ohtani will still serve as the designated hitter through the weekend series, but he continues to experience left-knee irritation aggravated by pitching.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 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
The break from pitching could also benefit his left knee, a problem that seems to have been aggravated by pitching.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2026
A famine caused by an inadequate Nile flood in 245 aggravated native resentment against the Greek monarchy and the burdensome cost of its imperial rivalries.
From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro
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
He’s been throwing weighted plyo balls to keep his arm strength up without aggravating his knee.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
He said Phelan's actions were a "joint enterprise with others" which was a "serious aggravating factor".
From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026
Midtown felt like a party, even as the Secret Service closed off chunks of 7th and 8th avenue and warned of aggravating security lines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
But Lindsey seemed to find it more aggravating than not-interesting.
From "An Abundance of Katherines" by John Green
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.
