aggravate

present singular third person aggravates · participle present aggravating · participle past aggravated · past aggravated

1. To make (an offence) worse or more severe; to increase in offensiveness or heinousness.First known use 16th c.

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

   1709, Joseph Addison, The Tatler

   1 more example

   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

   1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 23, column 2

   Synonyms: add insult to injury, twist the knife, add fuel to the fire, add insult to injury, cap it all off, fan the flames, make matters worse, throw gasoline on the fire · Antonyms: pour oil on troubled waters, alleviate

2. broadlyTo make (any bad thing) worse.First known use 16th c.

   to aggravate my woes.

   1726, Homer, “Book XVI”, in [William Broome], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume IV, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC

   1 more example

   […] to aggravate the horrors of the scene

   1837, William H. Prescott, History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic

   Synonyms: exacerbate · Antonyms: alleviate, mitigate

3. archaicTo give extra weight or intensity to; to exaggerate, to magnify.First known use 16th c.

   He aggravated the story.

   Synonyms: heighten, intensify, increase, magnify, accelerate, accrue, aggrandize, augment

4. obsoleteTo pile or heap (something heavy or onerous) on or upon someone.First known use 16th–18th c.

   In order to lighten the crown still further, they aggravated responsibility on ministers of state.

   1790, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, Oxford, published 2009, page 28

   Synonyms: dogpile, heap on, pile on

5. colloquialoftenproscribedTo exasperate; to provoke or irritate.First known use 16th c.

   If both were to aggravate her parents, as my brother and sister do mine.

   1748, [Samuel Richardson], Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by John Osborn, […], →OCLC

   1 more example

   Ben Bella was aggravated by having to express himself in French because the Egyptians were unable to understand his Arabic.

   1977, Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace, New York: Review Books, published 2006, page 85

   Synonyms: provoke, irritate, exasperate, annoy, nettle, rankle, ruffle, sting

comparative more aggravate · superlative most aggravate

1. obsoleteAggravated.
2. obsoleteLoaded, burdened, weighed down.
3. obsoleteHeightened, intensified.
4. obsoletelifestyleUnder ecclesiastical censure, excommunicated.