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

That's an aggravating factor under Utah law. —Michael Ruiz, FOXNews.com, 12 Jan. 2026

That’s another aggravating factor this year. —Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 10 Jan. 2026

As part of the deal with McFadden, prosecutors dropped a felony charge of embezzlement by a clerk or agent, along with an enhancement that alleged aggravating circumstances. —Rosalio Ahumada, Sacbee.com, 10 Jan. 2026

The state of Missouri has a list of statutory aggravating circumstances that must be present before pursuing the death penalty. —Pj Green, Kansas City Star, 25 Nov. 2025

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