Definition

1. Noun:
   • The act of making a problem, situation, or condition worse: The action of increasing the severity, seriousness, or gravity of something.
   • A source of persistent annoyance or irritation: Something that causes feelings of frustration or exasperation.
   • The feeling of being annoyed or exasperated: The state or experience of being irritated or provoked.

Examples of Usage

• Noun (Making something worse):

  • The constant noise was an aggravation of his headache.
  • The policy change led to the aggravation of social tensions.

• Noun (Source of annoyance):

  • The slow internet connection is a major aggravation when I'm trying to work.
  • Dealing with the bureaucracy was a daily aggravation.

• Noun (Feeling of annoyance):

  • He felt a sense of aggravation after the third failed attempt.
  • Her voice was full of aggravation as she explained the problem again.

Advanced Usage

• Legal Context: In law, "aggravation" can refer to circumstances that increase the seriousness or culpability of an offense.

  • The court considered the use of a weapon as an aggravation of the assault charge.

• Medical Context: In medicine, it describes the worsening of a disease or its symptoms.

  • The patient experienced an aggravation of symptoms following the treatment.

Variants and Related Words

• Aggravate (verb): To make a problem, injury, or offense worse or more serious. Also, to annoy or irritate.

  • Scratching will only aggravate the rash.
  • His constant questions began to aggravate her.

• Aggravating (adjective): Making a problem or offense worse or more serious. Also, causing annoyance or irritation.

  • Aggravating circumstances led to a harsher sentence.
  • It was an aggravating delay.

Synonyms

• Exacerbation: The act of making a problem, bad situation, or negative feeling worse.
• Irritation: The state of feeling annoyed, impatient, or slightly angry.
• Provocation: Action or speech that makes someone annoyed or angry, especially deliberately.
• Annoyance: The feeling or state of being annoyed; a thing that annoys someone.

Related Phrases

• Cause for aggravation: A reason or source of annoyance.
  • The persistent errors were a constant cause for aggravation.

Idioms and Common Expressions

• Adding insult to injury / Adding aggravation to injury: This phrase is a variant meaning to make a bad situation even worse for someone.
  • To add aggravation to the injury of losing his wallet, it started to rain.

Noun

1. action that makes a problem or a disease (or its symptoms) worse
   • the aggravation of her condition resulted from lack of care
2. unfriendly behavior that causes anger or resentment
3. an exasperated feeling of annoyance