grav-, griev-

1. To make worse, to worsen, to make more severe; to intensify, to inflame, to irritate, to increase, and to heighten: "Don't scratch because you will only aggravate the itch."
2. To annoy, to exasperate, to anger, to vex, to nettle, and to affront: "His bossy attitude aggravates me."

Aggravate really means to make worse: "The cold weather aggravated his rheumatism." For a long time, many teachers and critics said the word should not be used to mean to irritate, to annoy, or to vex. Today this use is considered acceptable by a vast majority of teachers, critics, and linguists; therefore, you may say, or write, "Stop aggravating me" without feeling guilty.

Word History

The Latin word gravis means "heavy", and aggravare means "to make heavy". From the past participle aggravatus, the English language borrowed aggravate, "to make heavy, weighty, serious, grievous".

Then the sense was transferred from the thing which is made grievous to the person who is annoyed by it, and aggravate acquired the sense of "to provoke, to annoy", sometimes thoughtlessly used in a flippant sense; such as, an "aggravating shoestring".

1. Annoyed or bothered: "Sometimes he gets more aggravated than usual when she criticizes him."
2. Made more serious by the use of violence or the threat of violence: "He was convicted of aggravated assault."

1. The act or result of making a situation, an injury, a condition, etc. worse: "She was making every possible effort to avoid the aggravation of her existing back problem."
2. That which annoys or bothers a person: "More and more well educated and experienced people feel tha a career in politics simply is not worth all the aggravations."

1. To afflict a person with pain, trouble, or distress: "Their refusal to consider her situation was aggrieving the mother."
2. To inflict an actionable injury on someone: "His legal rights were aggrieved when the judge refused to let him testify against the company."

1. Feeling strong anger as a result of unfair treatment: "She was an aggrieved victim of an assault by her husband."
2. Having suffered from unfair treatment: "The aggrieved person may obtain his treatment from a different medical facility."

Feelings of mental or physical pain or a misery resulting from an affliction: "The aggrievedness of the situation caused her to lose all hope of recovering from the stroke."

1. Relating to something that is very serious and requires serious thoughts or concerns: Ted was told that his violation of school rules is a grave matter.

Sally is suffering from a grave illness.

Jim's supervisor said he has grave doubts about the plan to increase profits for his company.

2. Descriptive of a serious and formal appearance or manner: The judge issued his ruling of guilt for Sam with a grave expression.
3. Written with or modified by the mark ( è ), as the è in Sèvres in the suburbs of Paris or the the French word père. © ALL rights are reserved.

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1. Being with child; heavy with young; pregnant.
2. An advanced stage of pregnancy.

1. The area in which the gravitational force of a celestial body is predominant.
2. The spherical region of space dominated by the gravitational field of a celestial body.