aggravate: [16] Aggravate originally meant literally ‘to weigh down’ or ‘to make heavier’ (it was modelled on Latin aggravare ‘to make heavier’, which in turn was based on gravis ‘heavy’, source of English gravity and grief; its first cousin is aggrieve [13], which came via Old French agrever). From the first it was generally used in a metaphorical sense, and by the end of the 16th century the meaning ‘to make worse’ was well established. The sense ‘to annoy’, which some purists still object to, dates from at least the early 17th century. => grave, gravity, grief
aggravate (v.)
1520s, "make heavy, burden down," from past participle adjective aggravate "burdened; threatened" (late 15c.), from Latin aggravatus, past participle of aggravare "to render more troublesome," literally "to make heavy" (see aggravation). Earlier in this sense was aggrege (late 14c.). Meaning "to make a bad thing worse" is from 1590s; that of "exasperate, annoy" is from 1610s.
To aggravate has properly only one meaning -- to make (an evil) worse or more serious. [Fowler]
Related: Aggravated; aggravating. Phrase aggravating circumstances is recorded from 1790.
实用例句
1. Pollution can aggravate asthma.
污染会使气喘加重。
来自《权威词典》
2. Men aggravate me when they go on about how impractical women are.
男人们不断地谈论女人是如何不切实际的时候使我恼火.
来自《简明英汉词典》
3. Threats will only aggravate her.
恐吓只能激怒她.
来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
4. Don't aggravate me, child.
孩子,不要惹我生气.
来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
5. If the reports are well founded, the incident could seriously aggravate relations between the two nations.
