Synonyms

aggravate

American

[ag-ruh-vayt] / ˈæg rəˌveɪt /

verb (used with object)

to make worse or more severe; intensify, as anything evil, disorderly, or troublesome.

to aggravate a grievance; to aggravate an illness.

Synonyms:

increase, heighten

Antonyms:

alleviate
to annoy; irritate; exasperate.

His questions aggravate her.

Synonyms:

rile, vex, anger
to cause to become irritated or inflamed.

The child's constant scratching aggravated the rash.

aggravate British

/ ˈæɡrəˌveɪt /

verb

to make (a disease, situation, problem, etc) worse or more severe
informal to annoy; exasperate, esp by deliberate and persistent goading

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

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!

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing aggravate

Good Grief!: Grav, Griev

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Commonly Confused Words, List 1

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100 Great Words from "Fahrenheit 451" -- Part I Vocabulary

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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:

aggravate aggravates aggravated aggravating

"You can use this knowledge to help bedridden patients. They also experience constipation and likely also have increased protein fermentation that may aggravate health conditions," concludes Lars Ove Dragsted, senior author of the paper.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 28, 2026

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

If inhaled at high levels, fumes can aggravate a person’s lungs, causing coughing, wheezing and chest tightness.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 25, 2026

In fact, the so-called positive attributes men are told to cultivate aggravate his woefulness.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 12, 2026

And after Deacon Hurd had prayed long enough to aggravate the prophet Elijah, Turner sat down and began to think that maybe Phippsburg wouldn’t be such a bad place after all—once he learned the language.

From "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary D. Schmidt

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

Turning our heads toward the future aggravates the whiplash induced by rapid change.

From Salon ● May 30, 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

This aggravates his father no end, and several other adults have made nasty remarks about it too.

From "The Pigman" by Paul Zindel

And even the people who love me can get aggravated by all the ways I’m impulsive, bossy, overwhelming and judgmental.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026

It states that the offence was aggravated under Section 31 of the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008, as amended by the Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Act 2021, because it had a "terrorist connection".

From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026

“It’s almost embarrassing,” said Stewart, who began the season on the IL while recovering from shoulder surgery and had another IL stint when he aggravated a bone spur in his left foot.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026

Nevertheless, Thursday’s news that a jury in Norristown, Pennsylvania, found Cosby guilty on three counts of aggravated indecent assault against Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee, came as a shock.

From Salon ● Apr. 27, 2018

I was still aggravated, not in the mood for chitchat.

From "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer

Rushing received platelet-rich plasma injection after aggravating the flexor injury a second time while working through a throwing program at the beginning of the month.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026

In the lawsuit, Baker-Mazara alleges he tried to return, despite aggravating a knee injury, but Musselman chose not to insert him into the lineup.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026

This breach of the order imposed on his work was an "aggravating" feature, the tribunal ruled, to already "significant" errors in surgery and post-op care, the hearing was told.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

If central banks cut interest rates to boost growth during a period of stagflation they run the risk of further aggravating inflation.

From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 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