Aggravate
How to use "aggravate" correctlyThis is an entry on my list of Common Errors in English Usage. Visit the main page for direct links to additional entries.
Although aggravate (along with other forms such as aggravating and aggravation) has long been commonly used to mean “to annoy or irritate,” some grammar police insist that its only proper usage is “to make worse; to exacerbate”:
aggravated by his constant nagging
annoyed/irritated by his constant nagging
he aggravated his injury while playing basketball
Related Resources
Common Errors in English Usage: Errors in diction and idiom commonly made by native speakers of English
List of Common Errors in English Usage (PDF): Printable version of the complete list
Common Grammar Errors: A list of common errors in grammar (topics like subject-verb agreement and parallelism) as distinct from usage
List of Common Errors in English Usage: PDF version
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