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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. v. To make worse or more troublesome.
  2. v. To rouse to exasperation or anger; provoke. See Synonyms at annoy.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. Literally, to add weight to or upon; increase the amount, quantity, or force of; make heavier by added quantity or burden.
  2. To make more grave or heavy; increase the weight or pressure of; intensify, as anything evil, disorderly, or troublesome: as, to aggravate guilt or crime, the evils or annoyances of life, etc.
  3. To exaggerate; give coloring to in description; give an exaggerated representation of: as, to aggravate circumstances.
  4. To provoke; irritate; tease.
  5. Synonyms To heighten, raise, increase, magnify; overstate. See list under exaggerate.

Wiktionary

  1. v. To make worse, or more severe; to render less tolerable or less excusable; to make more offensive; to enhance; to intensify.
  2. v. To give coloring to in description; to exaggerate; as, to aggravate circumstances. — William Paley.
  3. v. To exasperate; to provoke; to irritate.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. v. To make heavy or heavier; to add to; to increase.
  2. v. To make worse, or more severe; to render less tolerable or less excusable; to make more offensive; to enhance; to intensify.
  3. v. To give coloring to in description; to exaggerate.
  4. v. To exasperate; to provoke; to irritate.

WordNet 3.0

  1. v. make worse
  2. v. exasperate or irritate

Etymologies

  1. Latin aggravāre, aggravāt- : ad-, ad- + gravāre, to burden (from gravis, heavy; see gwerə-1 in Indo-European roots).

Examples

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Lists

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‘aggravate’ has been looked up 2007 times, loved by 3 people, added to 17 lists, commented on 1 time, and has a Scrabble score of 14.