aggravating

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.

Synonyms of aggravating

• annoying
• frustrating
• irritating
• disturbing

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

There is nothing more aggravating than a fly buzzing around your head (well, other than a mosquito). — Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 10 May 2026

Of course, the effectiveness of lavender in protecting an area from aggravating pests—like mosquitoes, fleas, and flies—depends on the number of plants. — Mary Marlowe Leverette, The Spruce, 14 June 2026

But during a press conference following the hearing, Held and the attorneys said aggravating circumstances in the case should meet the legal threshold for the battery case to be charged as a felony. — Madeline Buckley, Chicago Tribune, 26 May 2026

The onset of mating season this spring has escalated tensions, with the males’ loud early morning mating calls particularly aggravating residents. — Amarachi Orie, CNN Money, 14 May 2026

Word History

Etymology

from present participle of aggravate

First Known Use

1673, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for aggravating

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