- 1aggravate 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.
- 2aggravate somebody (informal) to annoy someone, especially deliberately synonym irritate
aggravate
verbNAmE//ˈæɡrəˌveɪt//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they aggravate he / she / it aggravates
past simple aggravated
-ing form aggravating
aggravating circumstances/factors Her constant interruptions were very aggravating.
NAmE//ˌæɡrəˈveɪʃn//
noun [uncountable, countable] The drug may cause an aggravation of the condition. I don't need all this aggravation at work.See aggravate in the Oxford Advanced Learner's DictionaryCheck pronunciation: aggravate