exasperate

1 of 2

verb

ex·​as·​per·​ate ig-ˈza-spə-ˌrāt 

exasperated; exasperating

transitive verb

1

a

: to cause irritation or annoyance to

It's a conundrum for any playwright: How do you enliven characters who alternately bore and exasperate each other?

—Michael Phillips

It's a demanding dining experience that may exhaust and exasperate some customers …

—Thomas Matthews

… they are just like any brothers who love and exasperate each other in equal measure …

—Allison Glock

b

: to excite the anger of : enrage

She did show favour to the youth in your sight only to exasperate you, to awake your dormouse valour, to put fire in your heart and brimstone in your liver.

—William Shakespeare

… no doubt he thought that such rigorous discipline as that might exasperate five hundred emigrants into an insurrection.

—Herman Melville

2

obsolete : to make more grievous : aggravate

exasperate

2 of 2

adjective

ex·​as·​per·​ate ig-ˈza-sp(ə-)rət 

1

: irritated or annoyed especially to the point of injudicious action : exasperated

2

: roughened with irregular prickles or elevations

exasperate seed coats

Did you know?

Exasperate comes from Latin exasperare, whose base, asper, means "rough." A relative of asper is asperity, which can refer to the roughness of a surface or the roughness of someone's temper. Another is spurn, meaning "to reject."

Did you know?

The Difference Between Exasperate and Exacerbate

Lest you wish to exasperate your readers, you should take care not to confuse exasperate with the similar-sounding exacerbate, another Latin-derived verb that means "to make worse," as in "Their refusal to ask for help only exacerbated the problem."

Synonyms

Verb

• aggravate
• annoy
• bother
• bug
• burn (up)
• chafe
• eat
• frost
• gall
• get
• grate
• gripe
• hack (off)
• irk
• irritate
• itch
• nark [British]
• nettle
• peeve
• persecute
• pique
• put out
• rasp
• rile
• ruffle
• spite
• vex

Choose the Right Synonym for exasperate

irritate, exasperate, nettle, provoke, rile, peeve mean to excite a feeling of anger or annoyance.

irritate implies an often gradual arousing of angry feelings that may range from mere impatience to rage.

constant nagging that irritated me greatly

exasperate suggests galling annoyance and the arousing of extreme impatience.

his exasperating habit of putting off needed decisions

nettle suggests a sharp but passing annoyance or stinging.

your pompous attitude nettled several people

provoke implies an arousing of strong annoyance that may excite to action.

remarks made solely to provoke her

rile implies inducing an angry or resentful agitation.

the new work schedules riled the employees

peeve suggests arousing fretful often petty or querulous irritation.

a toddler peeved at being refused a cookie

Examples of exasperate in a Sentence

Verb

The criticism of his latest movie is sure to exasperate his admirers.

We were exasperated by the delays.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Over the course of nearly a year, these two fronts of conflict sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel have exasperated U.S. diplomats who have sought to prevent war from engulfing the entire Middle East. —Shannon K. Kingston, ABC News, 30 Sep. 2024

The social isolation and loneliness associated with COVID-19 exasperated the challenges for couples who were not used to being together 24/7. —Jann E. Freed, Forbes, 13 Sep. 2024

Adjective

Hard armoring like that can ultimately exasperate erosion, causing waves to refract and pull sand further out to sea, chipping away at the coast’s sand, Sekich-Quinn said. —Laylan Connelly, Orange County Register, 25 Feb. 2024

At the very least, polarization will introduce uncertainty in foreign affairs and exasperate U.S. allies. —Rachel Myrick, Foreign Affairs, 14 June 2021

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Latin exasperatus, past participle of exasperare, from ex- + asper rough — more at asperity

First Known Use

Verb

1534, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

Adjective

1541, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

exasperate

verb

ex·​as·​per·​ate

ig-ˈzas-pə-ˌrāt

exasperated; exasperating

: to make angry : annoy, irritate