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单词 aggravate
释义
aggravate
(once / 813 pages)
1v 2v

People who chew with their mouths open often aggravate the people near them, meaning that they exasperate their neighbors.
One trick for remembering the meaning of aggravate is to recall that it rhymes with one of its synonyms, irritate. When you irritate, you aggravate. Younger brothers often aggravate their older brothers, because they find it entertaining to get a reaction out of them. Aggravate is also used is to mean "make worse." For example, if you have an old knee injury, it's probably best not to climb Mount Everest, because you might aggravate the injury. If your house is in foreclosure, calling your banker an ugly name is likely only to aggravate the situation. Try a little sweet talk instead!
CHOOSE YOUR WORDS
aggravate / irritate

Aggravate means to make something worse, and irritate is to annoy. But if you use aggravate to mean "annoy," no one will notice. That battle has been lost in all but the most formal writing.

To aggravate is to make something go from bad to worse. Yet aggravate was first listed as meaning, "exasperate, annoy" in A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues by Randal Cotgrave in 1611. But it's not exactly the same as irritate, darn it, and the sentences below get it right. In the news, aggravated often goes with battery, which is worse than simple battery (beating someone up), and carries a tougher punishment:

Knight was arrested for aggravated battery and resisting a police officer. (Chicago Tribune)

Tapia, 27, was charged after the confrontation with several counts of aggravated battery on a police officer and resisting arrest. (Reuters)

Regardless of pH levels, high-fat meats, dairy products, caffeine, chocolate, carbonated beverages, fried foods, alcohol and mints are known to aggravate reflux symptoms. (New York Times)

Irritate means to annoy someone. If you try to use irritate in the sentences above, it doesn't work as well. Irritate also means to inflame a part of the body, and in that sense, aggravate won't do:

Bedbugs don't spread disease, but they can irritate skin. (WebMD)

Gold chains are also very irritating to the neck and arms of an infant. (Eliza Leslie)

Despite four hundred years of English speakers using aggravate to mean annoy or irritate, there is a shade of difference. If you make something worse, you aggravate the situation. A bedbug will irritate your skin. If you're determined to annoy, use either.

WORD FAMILY
aggravate: aggravated, aggravates, aggravating, aggravation, aggravator+/aggravated: aggravatedly/aggravating: aggravatingest, aggravatingly/aggravation: aggravations
USAGE EXAMPLES
He caught a pass near the sideline, but seemed to aggravate his knee injury, and hobbled off the field.
The New Yorker(Jan 01, 2017)
The evidence showed ordinary negligence, a prosecutor’s letter said, but not “an aggravated kind of negligence or carelessness” required to file felony charges.
Seattle Times(Jan 01, 2017)
He faces a charge of aggravated child abuse.
Washington Times(Dec 31, 2016)
1
v make worse
This drug aggravates the pain
Syn|Ant|Hypo|Hyper
exacerbate, exasperate, worsen
ameliorate, amend, better, improve, meliorate
to make better
ameliorate, better, improve, meliorate
get better
irritate
excite to an abnormal condition, or chafe or inflame
inflame
cause inflammation in
cheapen, degrade
lower the grade of something; reduce its worth
devaluate, devalue
remove the value from; deprive of its value
chafe, fret, gall
become or make sore by or as if by rubbing
itch, rub, scratch
scrape or rub as if to relieve itching
alter, change, modify
cause to change; make different; cause a transformation
2
v exasperate or irritate
Syn|Hyper
exacerbate, exasperate
anger
make angry
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更新时间:2024/9/22 12:28:19