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Webster 1913 Edition

Exasperate

Ex-as′per-ate

,
Adj.
[L.
exasperatus
, p. p. of
exsasperare
to roughen, exasperate;
ex
out (intens.) +
asperare
to make rough,
asper
rough. See
Asperity
.]
Exasperated; imbittered.
[Obs.]
Shak.
Like swallows which the
exasperate
dying year
Sets spinning.
Mrs. Browning.

Ex-as′per-ate

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Exsasperated
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Exasperating
.]
1.
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
.
To
exsasperate
them against the king of France.
Addison.
2.
To make grievous, or more grievous or malignant; to aggravate; to imbitter;
as, to
exasperate
enmity
.
Syn. – To irritate; provoke. See
Irritate
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Exasperate

EX`ASPERATE

,
Verb.
T.
[L. exaspero, to irritate; ex and aspero, from asper, rough, harsh.]
1.
To anger; to irritate to a high degree; to provoke to rage; to enrage; to excite anger, or to inflame it to an extreme degree. We say, to exasperate a person, or to exasperate the passion of anger or resentment.
2.
To aggravate; to embitter; as, to exasperate enmity.
3.
To augment violence; to increase malignity; to exacerbate; as, to exasperate pain or a part inflamed.

Definition 2024

exasperate

exasperate

English

Verb

exasperate ‎(third-person singular simple present exasperates, present participle exasperating, simple past and past participle exasperated)

  1. To frustrate, vex, provoke, or annoy; to make angry.
    • c. 1611, William Shakespeare, Macbeth, act 3, scene 6:
      this report
      Hath so exasperate the king that he
      Prepares for some attempt of war.
    • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, chapter 3:
      The picture represents a Cape-Horner in a great hurricane; the half-foundered ship weltering there with its three dismantled masts alone visible; and an exasperated whale, purposing to spring clean over the craft, is in the enormous act of impaling himself upon the three mast-heads.
    • 1853, Charles Dickens, Bleak House, chapter 11:
      Beadle goes into various shops and parlours, examining the inhabitants; always shutting the door first, and by exclusion, delay, and general idiotcy, exasperating the public.
    • 1987 January 5, "Woman of the Year: Corazon Aquino," Time:
      [S]he exasperates her security men by acting as if she were protected by some invisible shield.
    • 2007 June 4, "Loyal Mail," Times Online (UK) (retrieved 7 Oct 2010):
      News that Adam Crozier, Royal Mail chief executive, is set to receive a bumper bonus will exasperate postal workers.

Translations

Adjective

exasperate ‎(comparative more exasperate, superlative most exasperate)

  1. (obsolete) Exasperated; embittered.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)
    • Elizabeth Browning
      Like swallows which the exasperate dying year / Sets spinning.

See also

Latin

Verb

exasperāte

  1. second-person plural present active imperative of exasperō

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -æspəɹeɪt

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