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Aggravate

//ˈæɡ.ɹə.veɪ̯t// adj, verb, slang

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Aggravated. obsolete
  2. 2
    Loaded, burdened, weighed down. obsolete
  3. 3
    Heightened, intensified. obsolete
  4. 4
    Under ecclesiastical censure, excommunicated. obsolete
Verb
  1. 1
    To make (an offence) worse or more severe; to increase in offensiveness or heinousness.

    "Once more, the more to aggrauate the note, With a foule Traitors name ſtuffe I thy throte, And wiſh (ſo pleaſe my Soueraigne) ere I moue, What my tong ſpeaks, my right drawn ſword may proue"

  2. 2
    make worse wordnet
  3. 3
    To make (any bad thing) worse. broadly

    "to aggravate my woes."

  4. 4
    exasperate or irritate wordnet
  5. 5
    To give extra weight or intensity to; to exaggerate, to magnify. archaic

    "He aggravated the story."

Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    To pile or heap (something heavy or onerous) on or upon someone. obsolete

    "In order to lighten the crown still further, they aggravated responsibility on ministers of state."

  2. 7
    To exasperate; to provoke or irritate. colloquial, often, proscribed

    "If both were to aggravate her parents, as my brother and sister do mine."

Etymology

Etymology 1

The adjective is first attested in 1471 in Middle English, the verb in 1530; from Latin aggravātus, perfect passive participle of aggravō (“to add to the weight of, make worse, oppress, annoy”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from ad- (“to”) + gravō (“to make heavy”), from gravis (“heavy”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). See grave and compare aggrieve and aggrege. Participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.

Etymology 2

The adjective is first attested in 1471 in Middle English, the verb in 1530; from Latin aggravātus, perfect passive participle of aggravō (“to add to the weight of, make worse, oppress, annoy”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from ad- (“to”) + gravō (“to make heavy”), from gravis (“heavy”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). See grave and compare aggrieve and aggrege. Participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.

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