aggravate 一字如同下列解釋，有正式與較為不正式 (informal) 的用法。

考點 1    

正式用法為「加劇、使惡化」之意，此等高階單字是在醫科研究所考試中的常見題。

例如 Lucas’s recovery from his sprained ankle went smoothly until an unfortunate fall from his bed resulted in a bad landing, which aggravated his injury further.，根據前後文，aggravate 這個字與 injury 搭配便是「加重傷勢」之意。參照〈釋義A ▶ 例2〉

考點 2    

另外一個較為 informal 的用法是指「激怒、惹火」，也適合在 TOEFL/IELTS 之口說題目中加以應用。若參照 IELTS speaking rubrics 條件，六分以上的回應中就必須包含 less common words，亦即較進階的字。而使用 aggravate 正可符合此要求。

比方說若 speaking 考試中被問及旅遊相關的不良經驗，若有像此例句的回應：We were already behind schedule to catch the flight, so the extended wait at customs was extremely aggravating. 便會被視為有使用到具變化的字，以取代像 angry 這類的一般用字，也較容易取得高分。參照〈釋義B ▶ 例6〉

 釋義A    to make worse or make more serious  加重；使惡化
替換字   worsen, intensify, exacerbate 

例1 ▶ Philip forgetting to gift Sarah flowers on Valentine’s Day for the third year in a row undeniably aggravated the rocky state of their relationship.
菲利普連續第三年忘記在情人節當天送花給莎拉，這無疑加劇了他們關係的不穩定。

例2 ▶ Lucas’ recovery from his sprained ankle went smoothly until an unfortunate fall from his bed resulted in a bad landing, which aggravated his injury further.
本來盧卡斯扭傷的腳踝恢復得很順利，直到他重心不穩不幸從床上摔了下來，這進一步加重了他的傷勢。

例3 ▶ The recent failed bombing by domestic terrorists in the capital further aggravated the already unstable tensions in the bipartisan congressional debates.
國內恐怖分子最近在首都發動的爆炸未遂事件進一步加劇了兩黨在國會辯論中已不穩定的緊張局勢。 

 釋義B    to annoy, irritate, upset (someone)  激怒；使惱火
替換字   exasperate, vex, provoke, (get on one’s nerves) 

例4 ▶ I had already waited for two hours at the immigration agency, so I was aggravated upon being told to wait for an hour more.
我已經在移民局等了兩個小時，所以當我被告知要再等一個小時，我很生氣。

例5 ▶ Oliver was not happy that the hairdresser had scheduled his appointment in error; the receptionist also failed to give him an acceptable excuse, aggravating his experience further.
奧利佛很不高興理髮師弄錯他的預約。而櫃臺人員也沒有給他一個合理的解釋，使他感到更加惱火。

例6 ▶ We were already behind schedule to catch the flight, so the extended wait at customs was extremely aggravating.
我們已經快趕不上預定的航班了，所以在海關的長時間等待讓人非常惱火。