aggravatingly

ag·gra·vate

(ăg′rə-vāt′)

tr.v. ag·gra·vat·ed, ag·gra·vat·ing, ag·gra·vates

1. To make worse or more troublesome: aggravate political tensions; aggravate a medical condition.

2. To annoy or exasperate: The child's whining aggravated me. See Synonyms at annoy.

[Latin aggravāre, aggravāt- : ad-, ad- + gravāre, to burden (from gravis, heavy; see g^werə- in Indo-European roots).]

ag′gra·vat′ing·ly adv.

ag′gra·va′tive adj.

ag′gra·va′tor n.

Usage Note: Aggravate comes from the Latin verb aggravāre, which meant "to make heavier," that is, "to add to the weight of." It also had the extended senses "to burden" or "to oppress." On the basis of this etymology, it is claimed by some that aggravate should not be used to mean "to irritate, annoy, rouse to anger." But such senses for the word date back to the 17th century and are pervasive. In our 2005 survey, 83 percent of the Usage Panel accepted this usage in the sentence: It's the endless wait for luggage that aggravates me the most about air travel. This was a significant increase from the 68 percent who accepted the same sentence in 1988.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Adv.

aggravatingly - in an aggravating fashion; "his hair was caught aggravatingly in the branches of the tree"

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aggravate

References in classic literature ?

His unguided feet, too, caught aggravatingly in brambles; and with it all he received a subtle suggestion to touch the corpse.

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I know what was her favourite costume when she was at the age that they make heroines of: it was a pale blue with a pale blue bonnet, the white ribbons of which tied aggravatingly beneath the chin, and when questioned about this garb she never admitted that she looked pretty in it, but she did say, with blushes too, that blue was her colour, and then she might smile, as at some memory, and begin to tell us about a man who - but it ended there with another smile which was longer in departing.

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So far, I did not feel called on to say anything to him about my own opinion, but when he proceeded, in his most aggravatingly languid manner, to suggest that the time for the marriage had better be settled next, in accordance with Sir Percival's wishes, I enjoyed the satisfaction of assailing Mr.

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'Oh you know what papa is,' rejoined Flora, 'and how aggravatingly he sits looking beautiful and turning his thumbs over and over one another till he makes one giddy if one keeps one's eyes upon him, he said when we were talking of you--I don't know who began the subject Arthur (Doyce and Clennam) but I am sure it wasn't me, at least I hope not but you really must excuse my confessing more on that point.'

View in context

Men are still being paid more than women, though things are improving if at an aggravatingly glacial pace.

Views & News

This attempt to understand disturbing trends in 20th century politics led their followers, aggravatingly, to write off virtually every nonprogressive attitude as "fascist" and to treat political differences as signs of mental defects.

Don't Blame Karl Marx for 'Cultural Marxism': POLITICAL CORRECTNESS ISN'T A COMMUNIST PLOT

He might be known as an irritable, demanding, aggravatingly frugal leader, but his steady vision and message offer an environment of honesty and consistency rarely visible in most of corporate America.

JEFF BEZOS' NEW WORLD ORDER

This clever kebab trick nicely combines succulent, clove-infused meat with a quinoa crust, but the mint chutney is aggravatingly hot.

Masti food review: An elevated playing field

Gibbs and Robson-Kanu have not featured since suffering hamstring injuries during Albion's memorable, but aggravatingly stop-start, FA Cup win at Liverpool last month.

Trio all set for return to ease Albion injury crisis

was aggravatingly slow, with promising solutions to current problems

The Refractory Redividerdrome

The price of opium--which was aggravatingly combined with the cost for domestic trouble--in Coleridge's case was therefore mainly deep depression and loss of creativity.