What does aggravate mean?
Word: Aggravate
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Aggravate means to make a bad situation, an illness or an injury worse; in everyday speech, also to annoy someone.
Synonyms: worsen, intensify, annoy, irritate
Antonyms: ease, relieve, alleviate
Word origin: From a Latin verb meaning 'to make heavier', built on the Latin word for 'heavy'.
How do you spell aggravate?
Syllables: ag - gra - vate
Tricky part: The double g at the start is the main trap: students write agravate because only one g is heard.
Watch out for: agravate, aggravait
Memory tip: Picture two grumpy geese making a noisy problem even worse: two g's to aggravate it.
Aggravate in a sentence
Example 1: Heavy rain began to aggravate the traffic jam outside the school.
Example 2: Arguing with the umpire will only aggravate the situation.
Example 3: Mehul's constant humming began to aggravate his sister while she studied.
Fun Fact
Many people use aggravate to mean 'annoy', and dictionaries accept this, but in formal writing its main sense is still 'make worse'.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Tally
How many words are misspelt in the given sentence?
Scratching a mosquito bite can aggrevate the itching, so the nurse dabbed some calamine lotion on it instead.
a) 1
b) 0
c) 3
d) 2
Show answer
a) 1. Only one word is wrong: aggravate has an a in the middle, the a of grave.
Word Puzzle
Match the words with the correct options:
1. aggravate 2. reluctant 3. obscure a. eager b. well-known c. soothe
a) 1-c, 2-a, 3-b
b) 1-a, 2-c, 3-b
c) 1-b, 2-c, 3-a
d) 1-c, 2-b, 3-a
Show answer
a) 1-c, 2-a, 3-b. To soothe is the opposite of to aggravate, eager is the opposite of reluctant, and well-known of obscure.
Sound Check
In which word is 'ate' pronounced differently?
a) celebrate
b) decorate
c) chocolate
d) aggravate
Show answer
c) chocolate. In chocolate the ate is a weak 'ut'; the other three end in the 'ate' of gate.
Jumble Tumble
What is the meaning of the word that can be formed from the given letters?
vegataarg
a) to collect many things into one group
b) to praise someone loudly in public
c) to make a bad situation even harder to bear
d) to leave a place in a great hurry
Show answer
c) to make a bad situation even harder to bear. Sorted out, the letters spell aggravate; do not mix it up with aggregate, which means to collect.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A doctor tells you not to aggravate a sprained wrist. You should avoid ___.
a) lifting heavy bags with it
b) putting ice on it
c) keeping it still
d) resting it on a pillow
Show answer
a) lifting heavy bags with it
2. Which habit would aggravate a sore throat?
a) shouting all through a cricket match
b) resting your voice
c) gargling with salt water
d) sipping warm water
Show answer
a) shouting all through a cricket match
