aggravate
verb /ˈæɡrəveɪt/
/ˈæɡrəveɪt/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they aggravate | /ˈæɡrəveɪt/ /ˈæɡrəveɪt/ |
| he / she / it aggravates | /ˈæɡrəveɪts/ /ˈæɡrəveɪts/ |
| past simple aggravated | /ˈæɡrəveɪtɪd/ /ˈæɡrəveɪtɪd/ |
| past participle aggravated | /ˈæɡrəveɪtɪd/ /ˈæɡrəveɪtɪd/ |
| -ing form aggravating | /ˈæɡrəveɪtɪŋ/ /ˈæɡrəveɪtɪŋ/ |
- aggravate something to make an illness or a bad or unpleasant situation worse synonym worsen
- Pollution can aggravate asthma.
- Military intervention will only aggravate the conflict even further.
Extra ExamplesTopics Illnessc2- He aggravated an old shoulder injury during the win against Chelsea.
- The government's actions will only aggravate the problem.
- Their negative reactions have greatly aggravated the situation.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- seriously
- severely
- slightly
- …
- aggravate somebody (informal) to annoy somebody, especially deliberately synonym irritate
Word Originmid 16th cent.: from Latin aggravat- ‘made heavy’, from the verb aggravare, from ad- (expressing increase) + gravis ‘heavy’.