Synonyms of aggravating

aggravating 1 of 2

adjective

ˈa-grə-ˌvā-tiŋ 

as in annoying

causing annoyance

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• annoying
• frustrating
• irritating
• disturbing
• exasperating
• maddening
• irksome
• vexing
• bothersome
• painful
• vexatious
• abrasive
• pesky
• nettlesome
• pestilential
• pestiferous
• galling
• nettling
• distractive
• infuriating
• pesty
• chafing
• plaguey
• rebarbative
• peeving
• troubling
• stressful
• troublesome
• rankling
• carking
• riling
• pestilent
• distressing
• burdensome
• discomforting
• biting
• upsetting
• displeasing
• mischievous
• disquieting
• importunate
• tiresome
• offensive
• enraging
• worrisome
• inconveniencing
• angering
• trying
• jarring
• importune
• thorny
• bratty
• grating
• brattish
• spiny
• jangling

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• delightful
• pleasing

aggravating

2 of 2

verb

present participle of aggravate

1

as in irritating

to disturb the peace of mind of (someone) especially by repeated disagreeable acts

it really aggravates me when I arrive 10 minutes before the stated closing time, and the store's closed already

Synonyms & Similar Words

• annoying
• irritating
• bothering
• bugging
• persecuting
• exasperating
• infuriating
• getting
• vexing
• irking
• eating
• worrying
• itching
• nettling
• grating
• angering
• griping
• galling
• chafing
• burning (up)
• riling
• spiting
• ruffling
• plaguing
• teasing
• frosting
• insulting
• peeving
• provoking
• getting to
• narking
• rasping
• hacking (off)
• piquing
• wearing on
• putting out
• upsetting
• harassing
• enraging
• nagging
• rubbing the wrong way
• offending
• getting on one's nerves
• sticking in one's craw
• hassling
• maddening
• unsettling
• setting one's teeth on edge
• getting one's goat
• distressing
• heckling
• badgering
• inflaming
• antagonizing
• pestering
• rousing
• discomforting
• perturbing
• agitating
• harrying
• disquieting
• outraging
• baiting
• incensing
• roiling
• rankling
• undoing
• affronting
• unhinging
• exercising
• fretting
• bullyragging
• deviling
• hagriding
• discomposing
• freaking (out)
• miffing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• obliging
• gratifying
• pacifying
• satisfying
• appeasing
• placating
• conciliating
• pleasing
• delighting
• mollifying
• comforting
• reassuring
• propitiating
• assuring
• soothing
• cheering
• consoling
• quieting
• contenting
• gladdening
• solacing

2

as in worsening

to make more severe

overheated rhetoric that only aggravated an already tense situation

Synonyms & Similar Words

• worsening
• deepening
• complicating
• intensifying
• exacerbating
• amplifying
• magnifying

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• relieving
• mitigating
• alleviating
• helping
• easing
• improving
• allaying
• ameliorating
• assuaging
• bettering

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of aggravating

Adjective

They are also expected to argue the shooting endangered others at Kirk’s campus event — an aggravating circumstance that could make the crime punishable by death under Utah law. — Hannah Schoenbaum, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2026

What’s so aggravating about a referee’s whistle is the sudden intrusion of a bystander. — Sally Jenkins, The Atlantic, 6 July 2026

Verb

The fans who decide to follow their country to a glorious or bitter end, irrespective of the cost or the risk of aggravating employers? — Phil Hay, New York Times, 26 June 2026

On direct appeal, the Florida Supreme Court vacated the death sentence and remanded the case for reconsideration over the trial court's handling of aggravating and mitigating factors in the case. — Amanda Lee Myers, USA Today, 24 June 2026