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
• frosting
• teasing
• peeving
• insulting
• narking
• getting to
• rasping
• hacking (off)
• provoking
• piquing
• wearing on
• putting out
• upsetting
• harassing
• enraging
• nagging
• rubbing the wrong way
• getting on one's nerves
• offending
• sticking in one's craw
• hassling
• maddening
• setting one's teeth on edge
• unsettling
• getting one's goat
• distressing
• heckling
• badgering
• inflaming
• antagonizing
• pestering
• discomforting
• rousing
• perturbing
• agitating
• harrying
• disquieting
• baiting
• outraging
• 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

This is not just aggravating but a safety issue as well since some drivers are slowing down and others are not. — Ticked Off, The Orlando Sentinel, 15 Aug. 2026

The El Dorado County District Attorney said that Varoff entered a guilty plea to six felony counts and admitted to all aggravating factors. — Brandon Downs, CBS News, 12 Aug. 2026

Verb

Funding any individual channel also risks aggravating the thousands of channels that don’t get any cash. — Lucas Shaw, Fortune, 21 Aug. 2026

Canada had threatened to retaliate against any new tariffs with levies of its own, aggravating a trade fight between countries that sold each other $880 billion worth of goods and services last year. — CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026