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aggravated

[ag-ruh-vey-tid]
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adjective
  1. annoyed; irritated: I get so aggravated when I get this much junk mail.
  2. Law. characterized by some feature defined by law that enhances the crime, as the intention of the criminal or the special vulnerability of the victim: aggravated assault; aggravated rape.
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Origin of aggravated

First recorded in 1540–50; aggravate + -ed2
Related formsun·ag·gra·vat·ed, adjective

aggravate

[ag-ruh-veyt]
verb (used with object), ag·gra·vat·ed, ag·gra·vat·ing.
  1. to make worse or more severe; intensify, as anything evil, disorderly, or troublesome: to aggravate a grievance; to aggravate an illness.
  2. to annoy; irritate; exasperate: His questions aggravate her.
  3. to cause to become irritated or inflamed: The child's constant scratching aggravated the rash.
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Origin of aggravate

1425–75; late Middle English < Latin aggravātus (past participle of aggravāre), equivalent to ag- ag- + grav- (see grave2) + -ātus -ate1; cf. aggrieve
Related formsag·gra·va·tive, adjectiveag·gra·va·tor, nouno·ver·ag·gra·vate, verb (used with object), o·ver·ag·gra·vat·ed, o·ver·ag·gra·vat·ing.pre·ag·gra·vate, verb (used with object), pre·ag·gra·vat·ed, pre·ag·gra·vat·ing.re·ag·gra·vate, verb (used with object), re·ag·gra·vat·ed, re·ag·gra·vat·ing.
Can be confusedaggravate annoy irritateaggravate intensify worsen (see synonym study at the current entry)

Synonyms for aggravate

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1. heighten, increase. 2. anger, vex, rile.

Synonym study

1. 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.

Antonyms for aggravate

1. alleviate.

Usage note

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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for aggravated

bother, provoke, irritate, complicate, magnify, exaggerate, worsen, intensify, exacerbate, inflame, enhance, deepen, heighten, pester, needle, nag, exasperate, get, peeve, tease

Examples from the Web for aggravated

Contemporary Examples of aggravated

Historical Examples of aggravated

British Dictionary definitions for aggravated

aggravated

adjective
  1. law (of a criminal offence) made more serious by its circumstances
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aggravate

verb (tr)
  1. to make (a disease, situation, problem, etc) worse or more severe
  2. informal to annoy; exasperate, esp by deliberate and persistent goading
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Derived Formsaggravating, adjectiveaggravation, noun

Word Origin for aggravate

C16: from Latin aggravāre to make heavier, from gravis heavy
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

Word Origin and History for aggravated

adj.

1540s, "increased, magnified," past participle adjective from aggravate. Meaning "irritated" is from 1610s; that of "made worse" is from 1630s. The earlier adjective was simply aggravate (late 15c.).

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aggravate

v.

1520s, "make heavy, burden down," from past participle adjective aggravate "burdened; threatened" (late 15c.), from Latin aggravatus, past participle of aggravare "to render more troublesome," literally "to make heavy" (see aggravation). Earlier in this sense was aggrege (late 14c.). Meaning "to make a bad thing worse" is from 1590s; that of "exasperate, annoy" is from 1610s.

To aggravate has properly only one meaning -- to make (an evil) worse or more serious. [Fowler]

Related: Aggravated; aggravating. Phrase aggravating circumstances is recorded from 1790.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper