aggravating

1 of 2

adjective

ag·​gra·​vat·​ing ˈa-grə-ˌvā-tiŋ 

1

informal : arousing displeasure, impatience, or anger

an aggravating habit

2

: increasing the seriousness of (a crime)

aggravating circumstances like recklessness

Usage of Aggravate, Aggravated, Aggravating, and Aggravation

Aggravate can mean both "to make worse or more serious" and "to make angry or irritated especially by bothering again and again," but writers for most of the 20th century were advised against the latter, and this meaning is still not encountered frequently in formal contexts. Likewise, the meanings of aggravated, aggravating, and aggravation that relate to anger or irritation are most at home in informal use.

aggravating

2 of 2

present participle of aggravate

Synonyms of aggravating

Adjective

• annoying
• frustrating
• irritating
• disturbing

Examples of aggravating in a Sentence

Adjective

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

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Bagent, though, will also have to resist the urge to press on Sunday, an understandable temptation given the aggravating, albeit minor, interruptions to his growth over the past two months. — Dan Wiederer, New York Times, 3 Oct. 2026

Competition from hyperscaler debt issuance also is seen as an aggravating factor. — Anniek Bao, CNBC, 24 Sep. 2026

The state only had to prove one aggravating factor to make Cozzi eligible for the death penalty. — Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 23 Sep. 2026

The jury also found aggravating factors that involved planning, professionalism or sophistication and found that Chapman-Joseph was armed with a weapon. — Rosalio Ahumada, Sacbee.com, 15 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

from present participle of aggravate

First Known Use

Adjective

1673, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for aggravating

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