Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To make very angry or impatient; annoy greatly.
- v. To increase the gravity or intensity of: "a scene . . . that exasperates his rose fever and makes him sneeze” ( Samuel Beckett).
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Irritated; inflamed.
- In botany, rough; covered with hard, projecting points.
- To irritate to a high degree; make very angry; provoke to rage; enrage: as, to exasperate an opponent.
- To incite by means of irritation; stimulate through anger or rage; stir up.
- To make grievous or more grievous; aggravate; embitter: as, to exasperate enmity.
- To augment the intensity of; exacerbate: as, to exasperate inflammation or a part inflamed.
- Synonyms Provoke, Incense, Exasperate, Irritate; vex, chafe, nettle, sting. The first four words all refer to the production of angry and generally demonstrative feeling. Irritate often has to do with the nerves, but all have to do with the mind. Provoke is perhaps the most sudden; exasperate is the strongest and least self-controlled; incense stands second in these respects.
- To increase in severity.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Exasperated; imbittered.
- v. To irritate in a high degree; to provoke; to enrage; to excite or to inflame the anger of.
- v. To make grievous, or more grievous or malignant; to aggravate; to imbitter.
WordNet 3.0
- v. make furious
- v. exasperate or irritate
- v. make worse
Etymologies
- Latin exasperāre, exasperāt- : ex-, intensive pref.; see ex- + asperāre, to make rough (from asper, rough).
Examples
“What I do disagree with him is that he states that various religions have not created or exasperate incivility.”
The Huffington Post: Randy Jurado Ertll: Bullying and Incivility Have Become an Epidemic
“Sometimes, his meticulous and analytical side can exasperate Stewart, who often instinctually comprehends a project.”
“They are clear about what they want and don't want, as opposed to nice people, who can be so vague that they exasperate you when you just want them to "spit it out.”
The Huffington Post: Mark Goulston, M.D.: Is Daddy An A-Hole?
“Obama laments that everything he did to alleviate the anxiety of the American middle class seemed at times only to exasperate the people more.”
“These Republicans unfortunately exasperate GOP hypocrisy again.”
“Tax cuts" for the rich and Hooverville slashing have proven NOT to work and only exasperate the problem.”
“While the senate confirmation process is goin 'on, it ill-behooves on any Sotomayor supporter to send e-mail in her praise, which may exasperate the already enraged GOP elite (?).”
“Agreements written in Doctorate level English are designed to confuse and exasperate even the most knowledgeable of consumers to the detriment of the buyer or renter.”
“Bankrupting or just reducing DT business will just exasperate the situation ratcityreprobate”
“The collection of ‘common errors’ … proves that the errors which exasperate teachers of English are indeed ‘common’.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘exasperate’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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seventhspice's Words
supine, distaff, lest, janissary, articulator, chaos, scrumptious, charlatan, alacrity, papyrus, corollary, funicular and 106 more...
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I love, love, love
taciturn, bungalow, dusk, façade, shangri-la, labyrinth, malicious, vortex, aerial, abandon, affectionate, validate and 772 more...
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The Ex-acting Xray
Out of this world via the "X-express".
exorbitant, exuberant, extant, exultant, expectorate, exhilarate, excommunicate, exacting, extenuate, exculpate, extirpate, expostulate and 110 more...
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Words I have to learn
exasperate, felony, weld, fraud, worksheet, ransom, rehearse, preliminary, offshore, parole, infamous, sieve and 436 more...
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stpeter's Words
abase, abasement, abashed, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abhorrent, abide, abject, ablation, abnegation and 3536 more...
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Derideo's Words
obdurate, obstinate, behest, injunction, enjoin, circumspect, ensconce, discursive, lugubrious, doleful, somber, ken and 2476 more...
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Papageno's Words, Pt. I
hobbledehoy, absquatulate, chthonic, prolix, ululate, internecine, verisimilitude, animadversion, concupiscence, vertiginous, cucullate, lucubrate and 1554 more...
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ash
ash
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject and 4874 more...
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Favorites
machiavellian, mercurial, deus ex machina, synecdoche, litotes, phallic, freudian, metonymy, chrestomathy, falsifiable, gestalt, truthiness and 211 more...
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wasserperson's Words
kakistocracy, telebomb, adroit, pensive, verbatim, asinine, anarchic, didactic, subsequent, mirthful, gregarious, sybarite and 102 more...
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What, another list?
ravishing, ravenous, pronk, brinksmanship, jaspe, mottle, chasm, testy, temperament, ponder, personally, phantom and 206 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, E
excoriate, exoskeleton, enclave, endemic, erstwhile, entwine, elliptical, élan, earflaps, earlobe, earthen, earthenware and 237 more...
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5-0
Hecko, words! I’m so happy I’ve found you. I want to keep you all and never want to lose you again. I hope you like it here.
amscray, thistledown, tine, tinsel, pungent, snarl, wail, lanky, viscid, dawdle, luminous, stow and 2707 more...
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thricedotted's Words
schadenfreude, vanquish, calumny, obsequious, rhapsody, expostulate, promontory, bordello, quintessence, catharsis, recapitulation, myriad and 937 more...
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diffcult-list18
eulogy, euphemism, euphony, euphoria, euthanasia, evanescence, evasive, evince, evenhanded, evocative, evoke, exacerbate and 32 more...


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