MEANING
To make someone intensely annoyed, especially through repeated difficulty.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- exasperate a listener
- increasingly exasperated
On the page
The evasive answers exasperated the committee.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- exasperate
- Past tense
- exasperated
- Past participle
- exasperated
- Present participle
- exasperating
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- exasperate
- Present continuous
- am/is/are exasperating
- Present perfect
- have/has exasperated
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been exasperating
- Past
- exasperated
- Past continuous
- was/were exasperating
- Past perfect
- had exasperated
- Past perfect continuous
- had been exasperating
- Future
- will exasperate
- Future continuous
- will be exasperating
- Future perfect
- will have exasperated
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been exasperating
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: exasperate; exasperates; exasperated; exasperated; exasperating 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: description, character, dialogue. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: exasperates.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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