aggravating

adjective

ag·​gra·​vat·​ing ˈa-grə-ˌvā-tiŋ 

: arousing displeasure, impatience, or anger

an aggravating habit

Common Uses of Aggravate, Aggravation, and Aggravating: Usage Guide

Although aggravate has been used to refer to rousing someone to anger since the 17th century, it has been the object of disapproval only since about 1870. It is used in expository prose

when his silly conceit … about his not-very-good early work has begun to aggravate us

—William Styron

but seems to be more common in speech and casual writing.

a good profession for him, because bus drivers get aggravated

—Jackie Gleason, interview, 1986

& now this letter comes to aggravate me a thousand times worse

—Mark Twain, letter, 1864

The "make worse" meaning is far more common in published prose than the "rouse to anger" meaning. Such is not the case, however, with aggravation and aggravating. Aggravation is used in the "irritation, provocation" sense somewhat more than in its earlier senses; aggravating has practically no use other than to express annoyance.

Synonyms

• abrasive
• annoying
• bothersome
• carking
• chafing
• disturbing
• exasperating
• frustrating
• galling
• irksome
• irritating
• maddening
• nettlesome
• nettling
• peeving
• pesky
• pestiferous
• pestilent
• pestilential
• pesty
• plaguey
• plaguy
• rankling
• rebarbative
• riling
• vexatious
• vexing

Examples of aggravating in a Sentence

there's nothing so aggravating as a blaring car alarm that no one is paying any attention to

Recent Examples on the Web

Maher said a person’s legal status has never been used as an aggravating factor in death penalty cases. —Romy Ellenbogen, Miami Herald, 12 Feb. 2025

This allows the skin to adapt without the aggravating impact of the sun. —Felicity Carter, Forbes, 24 Jan. 2025

Despite the political winds in the U.S., and President-elect Donald Trump’s history of denying and aggravating climate-change issues, evidence is mounting in cities and towns across the country that the risks posed by erratic weather patterns are only increasing. —Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 11 Jan. 2025

Meagan Emily McFadden faces felony charges of misappropriating public money, embezzlement, along with an enhancement alleging aggravating circumstances. —Rosalio Ahumada, Sacramento Bee, 22 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

from present participle of aggravate

First Known Use

1673, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for aggravating

• abdicating
• abrogating
• activating
• actuating
• advocating
• aggregating
• agitating
• allocating
• alternating
• animating
• annotating
• antedating