aggravation

aggravation
aggravation
1. The 20c has seen an increase in the harassment of appointed or elected officials and of other people in positions of authority, e.g. schoolteachers. The words most commonly used in this context is aggravation (first recorded in this meaning in 1939), and its colloquial equivalent is aggro (1969). In more recent use they have come to signify trouble or difficulty in general:

• Members of the public are quite able to make their own claims assisted and guided by department officials without having these people coming in and causing aggravation —Times, 1978

• A certain amount of agricultural aggro is a regular part of the French way of public life —Times, 1984

• I am acutely conscious that I have been a source of aggravation to Pa recently over my stupid allergy to vegetables —I. Maitland, 1993.

2. Aggravation is still used to mean ‘making more serious or grave’: e.g.

• It would have been a very unnecessary aggravation of his difficulties to have two different popes in lands which he intended to unite once more —R. W. Southern, 1990.


Modern English usage. 2014.

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  • aggravation — [ agravasjɔ̃ ] n. f. • XIVe; bas lat. aggravatio, spécialisé en lat. ecclés. 1 ♦ Anciennt Second avertissement d excommunication. 2 ♦ (1835 aggravation de peine) Dr. Augmentation (de la peine); particularité qui aggrave (le délit, le crime). 3 ♦… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Aggravation — may refer to: * Aggravation , a board game played with marbles ** Aggravation , a Game Boy Advance game based on the board game ** Aggravation , a Nintendo DS game based on the board game * Aggravation, a cocktail made from whiskey, coffee… …   Wikipedia

  • aggravation — I (annoyance) noun complication, difficulty, distress, frustration, grievance, harassment, inconvenience, irritant, irritation, nuisance, ordeal, pressure, provocation, strain, stress II (exacerbation) noun agitation, amplification, augmentation …   Law dictionary

  • Aggravation — Ag gra*va tion, n. [LL. aggravatio: cf. F. aggravation.] 1. The act of aggravating, or making worse; used of evils, natural or moral; the act of increasing in severity or heinousness; something additional to a crime or wrong and enhancing its… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • aggravation — (n.) late 15c., from M.Fr. aggravation, from L.L. aggravationem (nom. aggravatio), noun of action from pp. stem of L. aggravare make heavier, figuratively to embarrass further, increase in oppressiveness, from ad to (see AD (Cf. ad )) + gravare… …   Etymology dictionary

  • aggravation — [n1] annoyance affliction, aggro*, bother, botheration*, difficulty, distress, exasperation, hang up*, headache*, irksomeness, irritation, pain, pain in the neck*, pet peeve*, provocation, teasing, vexation, worry; concept 410 aggravation [n2]… …   New thesaurus

  • aggravation — [ag΄rə vā′shən] n. 1. the act of aggravating, or making worse, or the condition of being aggravated 2. a thing or circumstance that aggravates, or makes worse 3. Informal exasperation; annoyance …   English World dictionary

  • Aggravation — (Roget s Thesaurus) < N PARAG:Aggravation >N GRP: N 1 Sgm: N 1 aggravation aggravation heightening Sgm: N 1 exacerbation exacerbation Sgm: N 1 exasperation exasperation Sgm: N 1 overestimation overestimation &c. 482 Sgm: N 1 exaggeration …   English dictionary for students

  • aggravation — UK [ˌæɡrəˈveɪʃ(ə)n] / US noun Word forms aggravation : singular aggravation plural aggravations 1) [uncountable] mainly spoken a feeling of being annoyed The cost of repairs was huge, not to mention the aggravation. 2) a) [countable/uncountable]… …   English dictionary

  • Aggravation — Als Aggravation (von lat. aggravare: schwerer machen) wird das bewusst übertriebene Betonen vorhandener Krankheitssymptome aufgrund von „vermehrter“ Selbstbeobachtung bezeichnet.[1] Ein Aggravant ist ein Patient, der seine Symptome übertrieben… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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