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

Cuno is possibly the most aggravating character in a video game, ever. —G Kirilloff, Forbes, 25 Nov. 2024

Military activity, namely Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is a further aggravating cause (the former is suspected of having used its Caspian Flotilla to launch a number of strikes). —Zoe Whitfield, CNN, 18 Oct. 2024

Chalk this one up to a moment of frustration from a veteran driver who doesn’t have all that many chances to win remaining in his career, which is why seeing a sure victory disappear had to be incredibly aggravating. —Jeff Gluck, The Athletic, 4 Apr. 2024

An aggravating factor from their viewpoint was Navalny’s impeccable character and limitless bravery that put Putin and his mobsters to shame. —Bruce Fein, Baltimore Sun, 15 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

from present participle of aggravate

First Known Use

1673, in the meaning defined above