exasperate

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ɪɡˈzæspəreɪt/ UK /ɪɡˈzɑːspəreɪt/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to irritate or annoy intensely

His constant lateness began to exasperate his colleagues.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to irritate or annoy intensely irritate annoy infuriate aggravate vex incense provoke

Opposites

soothe calm pacify mollify appease

Word family

Derived forms exasperated exasperating exasperation

Related forms asperity

Simplified etymology

Exasperate comes from Latin exasperare, “to irritate to anger,” based on asper, “rough.”

Etymology

From Latin exasperatus, past participle of exasperare ('to roughen, irritate'), from ex- ('thoroughly') + asperare ('to make rough'), from asper ('rough').

exasperare Latin asper Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# exasperate

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ɪɡˈzæspəreɪt/
**IPA (UK):** /ɪɡˈzɑːspəreɪt/

## Meanings
1. to irritate or annoy intensely

## Examples
- His constant lateness began to exasperate his colleagues.

## Synonyms
- irritate
- annoy
- infuriate
- aggravate
- vex
- incense
- provoke

## Antonyms
- soothe
- calm
- pacify
- mollify
- appease

## Derived Forms
- exasperated
- exasperating
- exasperation

## Related Forms
- asperity

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: exasperare
- Root: asper

## Etymology
From Latin exasperatus, past participle of exasperare ('to roughen, irritate'), from ex- ('thoroughly') + asperare ('to make rough'), from asper ('rough').

## AI Etymology
Exasperate comes from Latin exasperatus, past participle of exasperare ('to roughen, irritate'), from ex- ('thoroughly') + asperare ('to make rough'), from asper ('rough'). The etymological trail includes Latin exasperare and Latin asper. As a verb, exasperate means to irritate or annoy intensely. The same family is visible in derived forms such as exasperated, exasperating, and exasperation and related forms such as asperity. The analysis is partly morphological, with the modern form built from the elements named in the history.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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