Exasperate

/ɪɡˈzæsp(ə)ɹeɪt/ · verb

Meaning

(transitive) To tax the patience of; irk, frustrate, vex, provoke, annoy; to make angry..

Definitions by Sense

1. (transitive) To tax the patience of; irk, frustrate, vex, provoke, annoy; to make angry.
2. (as a participle) Exasperated.
3. Exasperated; embittered.

Example Sentences

And this report Hath so exasperate [sic] the king that he Prepares for some attempt of war.

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.

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.

[S]he exasperates her security men by acting as if she were protected by some invisible shield.

News that Adam Crozier, Royal Mail chief executive, is set to receive a bumper bonus will exasperate postal workers.

And this report Hath ſo exaſperate their King, that hee Prepares for ſome attempt of Warre.

Thersites. Do I curse thee? Patroclus. Why no, you ruinous butt, you whoreson indistinguishable cur, no. Thersites. No! why art thou then exasperate, thou idle immaterial skein of sleave-silk […]

Like swallows which the exasperate dying year Sets spinning […]

Synonyms for exasperate

Antonyms for exasperate

Related Words

Word Forms

• exasperates
• exasperating
• exasperated
• more exasperate
• most exasperate

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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