aggravate

[ag-ruh-veyt] /ˈæg rəˌveɪt/
verb (used with object), aggravated, aggravating.
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.
Origin
1425-75; late Middle English < Latin aggravātus (past participle of aggravāre), equivalent to ag- ag- + grav- (see grave2) + -ātus -ate1; cf. aggrieve
Related forms
aggravative, adjective
aggravator, noun
overaggravate, verb (used with object), overaggravated, overaggravating.
preaggravate, verb (used with object), preaggravated, preaggravating.
reaggravate, verb (used with object), reaggravated, reaggravating.
Can be confused
aggravate, annoy, intensify, irritate, worsen (see synonym study at the current entry)
Synonyms
1. heighten, increase. 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. 2. anger, vex, rile.
Antonyms
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.
Examples from the web for aggravate
  • Oddly enough, he benefited from injuring his ankle last year: his rehab focused on balance, so he wouldn't aggravate the injury.
  • Mold has been found to aggravate allergies and asthma.
  • To drive him away, Molly carries out a hare-brained scheme to aggravate his cat allergy.
  • Higher sea levels would aggravate storm surges or the impact of tsunamis.
  • These heavy, costly contraptions only aggravate street congestion.
  • Don't aggravate yoru colleagues by doing some half-baked thing.
  • The cause of such ulcers is unknown, and although stress can aggravate them, most doctors do not believe stress causes ulcers.
  • He was told that further play would aggravate the injury and was excused from the doubles.
  • Aging can also aggravate a depression.
  • Entrenched deflation across Asia would seriously aggravate the economic crisis.
British Dictionary definitions for aggravate

aggravate

/ˈæɡrəˌveɪt/
verb (transitive)
1.
to make (a disease, situation, problem, etc) worse or more severe
2.
(informal) to annoy; exasperate, esp by deliberate and persistent goading
Derived Forms
aggravating, adjective
aggravation, noun
Word Origin
C16: from Latin aggravāre to make heavier, from gravis heavy
Word Origin and History for 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.