Dictionary Definition
aggravate
Verb
2 exasperate or irritate [syn: exacerbate, exasperate]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Etymology
aggravatus, past participle of aggravare. See aggrieve.Pronunciation
IPA: WEAE /ˈæg.rə.vet/Verb
- To make worse, or more severe; to render less tolerable or less
excusable; to make more offensive; to enhance; to intensify.
- To aggravate my woes. —Pope.
- To aggravate the horrors of the scene. —Prescott.
- The defense made by the prisoner's counsel did rather aggravate than extenuate his crime. —Addison.
- To aggravate the horrors of the scene. —Prescott.
- To aggravate my woes. —Pope.
- To give coloring to in description; to exaggerate; as, to aggravate circumstances. —Paley.
- To exasperate; to provoke; to irritate.
- If both were to aggravate her parents, as my brother and sister do mine. —Richardson (Clarissa).
Usage notes
- Although the meaning "to exasperate, to annoy" has been in continuous usage since the 17th century, a large number of usage mavens have contested it since the 1870s. Opinions have only recently started to sway from this proscription.
Translations
To make worse, or more severe
- Finnish: pahentaa
- German: verschlimmern, erschweren
- Malayalam: വഷളാക്കുക (vashalaakkuka)
- Russian: усугублять
To give coloring to in description; to
exaggerate; as, to aggravate circumstances
- Malayalam: ഊതിപ്പെരുപ്പിക്കുക (oothipperuppikkuka)
- Russian: усложнять
To exasperate; to provoke; to irritate
- Finnish: ärsyttää, suututtaa
- German: ärgern, verbittern
- Russian: раздражать
- Malayalam: അലോസരപ്പെടുത്തുക (alosarappeduththuka)
Synonyms
- to heighten; intensify; increase; magnify; exaggerate; provoke; irritate; exasperate.
Italian
Verb
aggravate- Form of Second-person plural present tense, aggravare
- Form of Second-person plural imperative, aggravare#Italian|aggravare
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
accelerate, agent
provocateur, aggrandize, alienate, amplify, anger, annoy, antagonize, arouse, augment, badger, bait, be at, bedevil, beef up, beset, blow up, bother, bristle, brown off, bug, build up, bullyrag, burn up, chafe, chivy, come between, complicate, concentrate, condense, consolidate, damage, deepen, deteriorate, devil, dilapidate, disaffect, discompose, distemper, disturb, disunite, divide, dog, double, embitter, endamage, enhance, enlarge, envenom, estrange, exacerbate, exaggerate, exasperate, exercise, fan the flame,
fash, fret, frustrate, gall, get, grate, gripe, harass, harm, harry, heat up, heckle, hector, heighten, hop up, hot up,
hound, huff, hurt, impair, incense, increase, inflame, infuriate, injure, intensify, irk, irritate, jazz up, key up,
light the fuse, madden,
magnify, make acute,
make complex, make trouble, make worse, miff, molest, mount, multiply, nag, needle, nettle, nudzh, peeve, persecute, perturb, pester, pick on, pique, pit against, plague, pluck the beard, pother, provoke, put back, ramify, rankle, redouble, reinforce, ride, rile, rise, roil, rouse, ruffle, separate, set against, set at
odds, set at variance, set on, set up, sharpen, sic on, soup up,
sour, sow dissension, step
up, stir the blood, stir up, stir up trouble, strengthen, tease, torment, triple, trouble, try the patience, tweak
the nose, upset, vex, weaken, whet, work up, worry, worsen