exasperate
C1formal
Definition
Meaning
to irritate or annoy someone intensely
to cause someone to feel extreme frustration or anger, often through repeated provocation or persistent difficulty
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
Implies a cumulative effect of irritation leading to loss of patience; stronger than 'annoy' but less violent than 'infuriate'
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No significant differences in meaning or usage
Connotations
Slightly more formal in British English; equally formal in American
Frequency
Equally common in both varieties
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
[subject] exasperates [object][subject] is exasperated by [object][subject] feels exasperatedVocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “at one's wits' end”
- “driven to distraction”
- “at the end of one's tether”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Used to describe frustrating bureaucratic processes or uncooperative colleagues
Academic
Appears in psychological texts about emotional responses or literary analysis of character interactions
Everyday
Describing frustrating situations with technology, traffic, or difficult people
Technical
Rare in technical contexts; occasionally in human-computer interaction studies
Examples
By Part of Speech
verb
British English
- The constant delays began to exasperate even the most patient travellers.
- Her refusal to listen would exasperate anyone trying to help.
American English
- The software glitches really exasperate users trying to meet deadlines.
- His evasive answers exasperated the interviewers.
adverb
British English
- He shook his head exasperatedly when the machine jammed again.
- She sighed exasperatedly at the bureaucratic paperwork.
American English
- He threw his hands up exasperatedly when the website crashed.
- She looked at me exasperatedly after the third interruption.
adjective
British English
- She gave an exasperated sigh when the train was cancelled again.
- His exasperated tone suggested he'd explained this many times.
American English
- The exasperated teacher finally sent the disruptive student to the office.
- I could hear her exasperated voice through the phone.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- The noisy children exasperate their mother.
- Long waits exasperate people.
- The complicated instructions exasperated the new employees.
- His constant excuses began to exasperate his friends.
- The government's contradictory policies exasperate both businesses and citizens.
- Her refusal to compromise exasperated the negotiation process.
- The bureaucratic inertia that characterises the institution never fails to exasperate reformers.
- His pedantic attention to trivial details while ignoring major issues exasperated his colleagues.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
EX-ASPER-ATE: Imagine someone EXiting a situation because they're AS PERfectly ATE up with frustration
Conceptual Metaphor
FRUSTRATION IS HEAT (simmering, boiling over), PATIENCE IS A CONTAINER (running out, exhausted)
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Not 'exacerbate' (ухудшать) - different meaning
- Not 'exhaust' (истощать) - different concept
- Closer to 'раздражать до бешенства' than просто 'раздражать'
Common Mistakes
- Confusing with 'exacerbate' (to make worse)
- Using as adjective without -ed (incorrect: 'I feel exasperate')
- Overusing in informal contexts where 'annoy' would suffice
Practice
Quiz
Which situation best illustrates 'exasperate'?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
'Exasperate' means to irritate intensely, while 'exacerbate' means to make a problem or situation worse.
Yes, but only as 'exasperated' (feeling intensely irritated) or 'exasperating' (causing intense irritation).
It's moderately formal. In casual conversation, people often use 'annoy', 'irritate', or 'frustrate' instead.
The noun is 'exasperation', meaning the state of being intensely irritated or frustrated.