aggravate

CEFRC2

/ˈæɡ.ɹə.veɪ̯t/

verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To make a problem, injury, or situation worse.

  2. 02

    verb

    To annoy someone greatly.

Examples

  • The taunts at the end of the match failed to aggravate Tom.

  • It will aggravate the wound.

At a glance

Sits at C2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /ˈæɡɹəvət/

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To give extra weight or intensity to; to exaggerate, to magnify.

  2. To make (any bad thing) worse.

  3. To make (an offence) worse or more severe; to increase in offensiveness or heinousness.

More examples

In context

  • He aggravated the story.

  • The defense made by the prisoner's counsel did rather aggravate than extenuate his crime.

  • Once more, the more to aggrauate the note, With a foule Traitors name ſtuffe I thy throte, And wiſh (ſo pleaſe my Soueraigne) ere I moue, What my tong ſpeaks, my right drawn ſword may proue

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

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Nearby

Origin

verb

The adjective is first attested in 1471 in Middle English, the verb in 1530; from Latin aggravātus, perfect passive participle of aggravō (“to add to the weight of, make worse, oppress, annoy”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from ad- (“to”) + gravō (“to make heavy”), from gravis (“heavy”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). See grave and compare aggrieve and aggrege. Participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English. By surface analysis, ag- + grave (“heavy”) + -ate (“verb suffix”).