aggravate, annoy, irritate

aggravate, annoy, irritate
Aggravate means "to intensify," "to increase something unpleasant," "to make worse," "to make more grave or serious." Used informally and loosely, aggravate means "to irritate," "to annoy." Annoy means "to harass," "to pester," "to disturb," "to irritate by bothering." Irritate, meaning "to excite to impatience," is a virtual synonym for annoy but refers to a milder disturbance or lesser upset. Aggravate is the strongest of the three terms."Sneezing aggravated Jack's open wound." "The buzzing mosquito annoyed me." "Rude remarks about his ability irritated the foreman."

Dictionary of problem words and expressions. . 1975.

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  • irritate — See aggravate. See aggravate, annoy, irritate …   Dictionary of problem words and expressions

  • annoy — See aggravate. See aggravate, annoy, irritate …   Dictionary of problem words and expressions

  • aggravate — See aggravate, annoy, irritate …   Dictionary of problem words and expressions

  • irritate — I verb affront, aggravate, agitate, anger, annoy, badger, bother, bully, chafe, discompose, displease, disturb, enrage, exacerbate, exasperate, excite anger, excite impatience, fret, gall, give offense, grate, harass, hector, incense, inflame,… …   Law dictionary

  • annoy — I verb acerbate, affront, aggravate, badger, bedevil, bother, chafe, cross, discommode, discompose, displease, disquiet, distress, disturb, enrage, exasperate, fester, fret, gall, get on the nerves of, grate, grieve, harass, harm, harry, heckle,… …   Law dictionary

  • irritate — [v1] upset, anger abrade, affront, aggravate, annoy, bother, bug*, burn*, chafe, confuse, distemper, disturb, drive up the wall*, enrage, exasperate, fret, gall, get, get on nerves*, get under skin*, grate, harass, incense, inflame, infuriate,… …   New thesaurus

  • aggravate — verb 1) the new law could aggravate the situation Syn: worsen, make worse, exacerbate, inflame, compound; add fuel to the fire/flames, add insult to injury, rub salt in the wound Ant: alleviate, improve 2) informal you don …   Thesaurus of popular words

  • aggravate — aggravative, adj. aggravator, n. /ag reuh vayt /, v.t., aggravated, aggravating. 1. to make worse or more severe; intensify, as anything evil, disorderly, or troublesome: to aggravate a grievance; to aggravate an illness. 2. to annoy; irritate;… …   Universalium

  • irritate — I (New American Roget s College Thesaurus) v. t. annoy, provoke, vex, bother, trouble; irk, exasperate, chafe, nettle, ruffle. See excitement, violence, resentment. II (Roget s IV) v. 1. [To bother] Syn. provoke, annoy, exasperate, pester, peeve …   English dictionary for students

  • aggravate — I (New American Roget s College Thesaurus) v. worsen, intensify, increase; informal, irritate, annoy, exacerbate (See resentment). Ant., alleviate, improve. II (Roget s IV) v. 1. [To irritate] Syn. exasperate, annoy, provoke; see bother 2 . 2.… …   English dictionary for students

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