aggravateag‧gra‧vate /ˈæɡrəveɪt/ ●○○ verb [transitive] 
Their money problems were further aggravated by a rise in interest rates. Building the new road will only aggravate the situation.2to make someone angry or annoyed SYN irritate: What really aggravates me is the way she won’t listen.—aggravating adjective—aggravatingly adverb—aggravation /ˌæɡrəˈveɪʃən/ noun [countable, uncountable]
WORD ORIGINaggravate
Origin:
1500-1600 Latin past participle of aggravare ‘to make heavier’, from ad- ‘to’ + gravare ‘to make heavy’VERB TABLE
aggravate
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | aggravate |
| he, she, it | aggravates | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | aggravated |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have aggravated |
| he, she, it | has aggravated | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had aggravated |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will aggravate |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have aggravated |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am aggravating |
| he, she, it | is aggravating | |
| you, we, they | are aggravating | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was aggravating |
| you, we, they | were aggravating | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been aggravating |
| he, she, it | has been aggravating | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been aggravating |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be aggravating |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been aggravating |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Air pollution may aggravate a child's asthma.
- Any talk of price rises now will only aggravate an already serious situation.
- Cutting down the old forests may aggravate global warming.
- Is the pain aggravated by coughing or laughing?
- John claimed Susan did things just to aggravate him.
- Bunker aggravated an old injury in her ribs, while Thompson sprained his neck and upper back.
- But Palace yesterday played down fears that Salako aggravated the knee ligaments which required an operation last year.
- Newcastle ace Dyer aggravated a long-standing shin problem in Saturday's 1-0 home defeat to Manchester City.
- On Sept. 29, 1995, an aggravated battery incident report was filed with Metro-Dade Police.
- The disorder was aggravated by the economic depression of the 1930s.
- Tulip said it was faced with an exceptionally strong erosion of prices and margins in 1992, aggravated by currency movements.
Longman Language Activatorto make a bad or difficult situation worse
to make a bad or difficult situation even worse, especially when you were trying to improve it: · Don't interfere. You'll only make things worse.· Trying not to laugh aloud made it worse, and for a moment or two, they were both helpless with suppressed laughter.· Why not try running the anti-virus software? It can't make things any worse, can it?
use this to talk above something that makes a bad situation even worse: · To make matters worse, the director's gone on holiday without leaving anyone in charge.· To make things worse, Jimmy suddenly announced he'd left his passport at home.
to make a bad or difficult situation even worse: · Air pollution may aggravate a child's asthma.· Is the pain aggravated by coughing or laughing?· Any talk of price rises now will only aggravate an already serious situation.
formal to make a bad or difficult situation even worse: · The family's problems were exacerbated when Walter lost his job.· Ironically, the government's reassurances may have exacerbated fear about the disease.
if something compounds a problem, mistake, or difficulty, it adds to the existing problem so that the general situation gets even worse than before: · Strong nationalist sentiment is compounding the deep political problems faced by the President.be compounded by: · John and Val's domestic problems were compounded by stress at work.· The effects of the East Coast snows this year were compounded by severe storms in the spring.
use that to say that something makes a bad situation worse for someone, by unfairly giving them another problem that relates to or is a result of the original one: · The bank not only refused to refund the money but, to add insult to injury, charged me for the letter telling me so!
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Their money problems were further aggravated by a rise in interest rates. Building the new road will only aggravate the situation.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB
1to make a bad situation, an illness, or an injury worse OPP improve: Their money problems were further aggravated by a rise in interest rates. Building the new road will only aggravate the situation.· There is as noted above a real risk that the process will aggravate further the degree of imbalance that presently exists.· This was further aggravated by the continual irrelevant mention of the various printers of our publications.· Here the Pope was to further aggravate the already poor relationship between himself and the Emperor.
· And his self-despite was so strong that he knew reviving an old flame or chasing some young actress would only aggravate it.· But our actions only aggravate their passivity and feelings of helplessness.· Julie welcomed their support, but it only aggravated the situation at home and interfered with her work performance.
NOUN· Nine people were charged with burglary, three with robbery and two with aggravated assault on a police officer.· In April, Sharpe pleaded guilty to possessing a crack pipe and no contest to attempted aggravated assault.· The pattern held true for rapes, robberies and aggravated assault.
· Bunker aggravated an old injury in her ribs, while Thompson sprained his neck and upper back.
· Newcastle ace Dyer aggravated a long-standing shin problem in Saturday's 1-0 home defeat to Manchester City.· Indeed, there is wide support for measures that could seriously aggravate both problems.· More than 400 villagers have signed a petition against their application feeling their venture would aggravate the problem.· Differing views about what free trade means aggravates the problem.· This state of affairs has aggravated the already serious problem of doubt among Christians.· This aggravated the problems faced by the Queretaro agro-industry cooperatives.· Too many hours hitting practice shots on hard ground aggravated the old problem.· We can aggravate a problem, but a woman can not make her husband hit her!
· In fact, Water Lilies should help, not aggravate the situation, as all plants are consumers of nitrate.· If a person does suffer from other health problems, however, then serious obesity may indeed aggravate the situation.· The Communist decision to withdraw its candidates in all but two Parliamentary constituencies aggravated the situation still further.· Shoe makers aggravate the situation by not agreeing on uniform sizes.· The civil war has aggravated this situation, causing a breakdown in family life, such as it was.· Julie welcomed their support, but it only aggravated the situation at home and interfered with her work performance.· According to Hors, the new law will aggravate this situation, as these institutions will regularly force general practitioners to disclose information.
Their money problems were further aggravated by a rise in interest rates. Building the new road will only aggravate the situation.2to make someone angry or annoyed SYN irritate: What really aggravates me is the way she won’t listen.—aggravating adjective—aggravatingly adverb—aggravation /ˌæɡrəˈveɪʃən/ noun [countable, uncountable]