aggravation

noun

ag·​gra·​va·​tion ˌa-grə-ˈvā-shən 

1

: an act or circumstance that intensifies something or makes something worse

His interference was an aggravation of the situation.

2

: the act, action, or result of aggravating something or someone

especially : an increasing in seriousness or severity

aggravation of an injury

3

: irritation, provocation

Her job involves a lot of stress and aggravation.

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

• aggro [British]
• annoyance
• bother
• botheration
• bugbear
• exasperation
• frustration
• hair shirt
• hassle
• headache
• inconvenience
• irk
• irritant
• nuisance
• peeve
• pest
• rub
• ruffle
• thorn
• trial
• vexation

Examples of aggravation in a Sentence

trying to avoid the aggravation of an existing back problem

I don't need all this aggravation.

This car has caused me nothing but aggravation.

Many talented people now feel that a career in politics isn't worth all the aggravation.

I don't need all these aggravations.

Recent Examples on the Web

The bulk of her aggravation lands, not entirely undeservingly, on new arrival Beverly (a canny Dasha Nekrasova), a vacuous celebrity model who openly fears the loss of her youth and influence; as someone now shorn of both, Lucy can offer her harsher home truths than Elon. —Guy Lodge, Variety, 27 Dec. 2024

Payton has been relatively healthy this season, but a calf issue and the aggravation sent him to the locker room for the rest of the night. —Anthony Slater, The Athletic, 26 Dec. 2024

Given a bunch of factors (long hours, low pay, huge aggravations, a host of problems that seem unsolvable), there is almost no interest in going after School Board positions. —Alan J. Borsuk, Journal Sentinel, 27 Dec. 2024

All that money and aggravation wasted on a delivery of bad sod that turned into weeds in four months. —Ticked Off, Orlando Sentinel, 22 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Late Latin aggravātiōn-, aggravātiō "a weighing down," from Latin aggravāre "to weigh down, aggravate" + -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of verbal action

First Known Use

1546, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

aggravation

noun

ag·​gra·​va·​tion ˌag-rə-ˈvā-shən 

1

: the act or result of aggravating

2

: something that aggravates