MEANING
1. To make a problem, condition, or pain worse.
2. To annoy or irritate someone.
Use it for
a factor worsening an injury; a problem intensified by another action; harmful conditions made worse
Words that belong together
- aggravate a problem
- aggravate an injury
On the page
The emergency measures aggravated the shortage they were meant to relieve.
Nearby words
Opposite meanings
Word forms
- Base
- aggravate
- Past tense
- aggravated
- Past participle
- aggravated
- Present participle
- aggravating
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- aggravate
- Present continuous
- am/is/are aggravating
- Present perfect
- have/has aggravated
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been aggravating
- Past
- aggravated
- Past continuous
- was/were aggravating
- Past perfect
- had aggravated
- Past perfect continuous
- had been aggravating
- Future
- will aggravate
- Future continuous
- will be aggravating
- Future perfect
- will have aggravated
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been aggravating
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: aggravate; aggravates; aggravated; aggravated; aggravating Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: analysis, explanation. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: aggravates.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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