Word of the Day

: August 30, 2008

exasperate

verb ig-ZAS-puh-rayt

What It Means

1 : to excite the anger of : enrage

2 : to cause irritation or annoyance to

exasperate in Context

Our former neighbors' habit of throwing loud parties that lasted late into the night thoroughly exasperated us.

Did You Know?

"Exasperate" hangs with a rough crowd. It derives from "exasperatus," the past participle of the Latin verb "exasperare," which in turn was formed by combining "ex-" with "asper," meaning "rough." Another descendant of "asper" in English is "asperity," which can refer to the roughness of a surface or the roughness of someone's temper. Another relative, albeit a distant one, is the English word "spurn," meaning "to reject."