One thing that irritates many editors and English teachers is the use of aggravate to mean "irritate." Here's why.
Usage Rule: Here's what dictionaries and usage guides say: Aggravate should be used only to mean "make worse," as in "The many complaints from customers aggravated our problems."
If the meaning is "to cause anger or discomfort," use the verb irritate or other synonyms, as in "The loud music irritated me."
The reason? The word aggravate comes from a Latin term meaning "to make heavier or worse," and that was its original meaning in English.
Still, many people don't know this rule, or they ignore it. Aggravate has been used to mean "irritate" or "exasperate" since the 1500s. Dictionaries and usage guides began disapproving of the use only in the 1870s. As a result, you still see and hear it often.
Merriam-Webster adds the irritating note that both aggravation (noun) and aggravating (adjective) do not follow this rule. Aggravation very commonly means "irritation" and aggravating means only "irritating."
Takeaway: In writing, it's best to follow this rule. Use irritate instead of aggravate when the meaning is "to cause anger/discomfort." But the adjective aggravating and the noun aggravation are OK in speaking or writing.
In addition, you have many synonyms to irritate to choose from:
- annoy
- bother
- exasperate
- disturb
- gall
- irk
- rattle
- rankle
- rile
- vex
- grate
- pester
- bug
- drive (someone) nuts/bananas
- drive (someone) up the wall
- get on (someone's) nerves
- get under (someone's) skin
- rub (someone) the wrong way
