aggravate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to make worse or more severe; intensify, as anything evil, disorderly, or troublesome.
to aggravate a grievance; to aggravate an illness.
- Antonyms:
- alleviate
-
to annoy; irritate; exasperate.
His questions aggravate her.
-
to cause to become irritated or inflamed.
The child's constant scratching aggravated the rash.
verb
-
to make (a disease, situation, problem, etc) worse or more severe
-
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.
Related Words
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
- aggravating adjective
- aggravation noun
- aggravative adjective
- aggravator noun
- overaggravate verb (used with object)
- preaggravate verb (used with object)
- reaggravate verb (used with object)
Etymology
Origin of aggravate
1425–75; late Middle English < Latin aggravātus (past participle of aggravāre ), equivalent to ag- ag- + grav- ( grave 2 ) + -ātus -ate 1; aggrieve
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.
These playoffs remain up for grabs, which makes Philly’s ouster even more aggravating.
Albanese also promised hate speech reform including penalties for preachers and leaders who promote violence and a new federal offence of "aggravated hate speech".
From BBC
He said that it was a "serious aggravating feature" that Cross did not know any of the recipients and how vulnerable they were.
From BBC
The 29-year-old Bills quarterback suffered a right foot injury two weeks ago against Cleveland and aggravated it last week against reigning champion Philadelphia.
From Barron's
The government said the law already provided for a statutory aggravating factor for assault against any public facing worker via section 156 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022.
From BBC
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.
