exasperate
/ɪɡˈzæsp(ə)ɹeɪt/ verb, adjective
Forms exasperates exasperating exasperated
- verb (transitive) To tax the patience of; irk, frustrate, vex, provoke, annoy; to make angry.
- adjective (as a participle) Exasperated.
- adjective Exasperated; embittered.
- verb (UK, slang, humorous, obsolete) To overaspirate the letter h, or to aspirate it whenever it begins a word, once a common form of hypercorrection.
Synonyms
aggravate rile annoy nettle rankle ruffle sting burn someone's ass antagonize bother disgruntle botherate bug get grate burn up bedevil acerbate cheese off devil exacerbate infuriate incense worsen
Etymology
First attested in 1534; borrowed from Latin exasperātus, the perfect passive participle of Latin exasperō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from ex (“out of; thoroughly”) + asperō (“to make rough”), from asper (“rough”). Participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.
A pun on the usual sense of exasperate (to annoy) and aspirate.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Exasperated; imbittered. [Obs.] Shak.
- verb To irritate in a high degree; to provoke; to enrage; to excite or to inflame the anger of; as, to exasperate a person or his feelings.
- verb To make grievous, or more grievous or malignant; to aggravate; to imbitter; as, to exasperate enmity.
Etymology [L. exasperatus, p. p. of exsasperare to roughen, exasperate; ex out (intens.) + asperare to make rough, asper rough. See Asperity.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “exasperate”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details