From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishaggravateag‧gra‧vate /ˈæɡrəveɪt/ ●○○ verb [transitive] 1 WORSEto 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.2 ANGRYANNOYto 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]→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
aggravate• Air pollution may aggravate a child's asthma.• Newcastle ace Dyer aggravated a long-standing shin problem in Saturday's 1-0 home defeat to Manchester City.• Any talk of price rises now will only aggravate an already serious situation.• Bunker aggravated an old injury in her ribs, while Thompson sprained his neck and upper back.• On Sept. 29,1995, an aggravated battery incident report was filed with Metro-Dade Police.• Is the pain aggravated by coughing or laughing?• Tulip said it was faced with an exceptionally strong erosion of prices and margins in 1992, aggravated by currency movements.• The disorder was aggravated by the economic depression of the 1930s.• Cutting down the old forests may aggravate global warming.• John claimed Susan did things just to aggravate him.• But Palace yesterday played down fears that Salako aggravated the knee ligaments which required an operation last year.aggravate the situation• If a person does suffer from other health problems, however, then serious obesity may indeed aggravate the situation.• In fact, Water Lilies should help, not aggravate the situation, as all plants are consumers of nitrate.• Julie welcomed their support, but it only aggravated the situation at home and interfered with her work performance.• Shoe makers aggravate the situation by not agreeing on uniform sizes.• The Communist decision to withdraw its candidates in all but two Parliamentary constituencies aggravated the situation still further.Origin aggravate (1500-1600) Latin past participle of aggravare “to make heavier”, from ad- “to” + gravare “to make heavy” 