喜樂美語

核心畫面

You can picture aggravate as putting extra weight on something that is already carrying a load. The load can be a situation: a problem, an illness, a sore knee. It can also be a person: their patience is already holding a lot, and one more small thing presses down on it. Nothing here starts fresh. Aggravate always arrives second, after the trouble is already in place.

aggravate 可以想成「往已經很重的東西上再加一塊」。被壓的可以是一個狀況——問題、病、扭到的腳踝；也可以是一…更多收起aggravate 可以想成「往已經很重的東西上再加一塊」。被壓的可以是一個狀況——問題、病、扭到的腳踝；也可以是一個人——他的耐性本來就撐著很多東西，又被多壓了一下。這個字永遠是後來才出現的：它不製造麻煩，它只是把已經在那裡的麻煩往下推。

From the word’s history

From Latin aggravāre, ad- (onto) plus gravis (heavy) — literally to add weight to something. The weight picture is still doing the work in both modern uses.

來自拉丁文 aggravāre：ad-（往…上面）加 gravis（重的），字面就是「加上重量」。今天兩個用法都還踩在這個畫面上：一個是把重量加在狀況上，一個是把重量加在人的耐性上。

Wiktionary entry for aggravate, supplied in this packet as etymology_text (source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:442047141)

Two branches

壓在狀況上：讓壞事更重

最直接的一支：被加重的是一件已經不好的事。

verb · B2

To make a bad situation, an illness, or an injury worse than it already was. The trouble is already there, and what happens next adds to it.

使惡化；加劇

壓在人身上：把人磨煩

同一個「再加一塊」的畫面，只是被壓的換成人的耐性。

verb · B2

To make someone annoyed or angry, often by something small that keeps happening.

惹惱；使煩躁

原始詞典資料9 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

aggravateverb/ˈæɡ.ɹə.veɪ̯t/

  • 1

    To make (an offence) worse or more severe; to increase in offensiveness or heinousness.

    • Once more, the more to aggrauate the note, With a foule Traitors name ſtuffe I thy throte, And wiſh (ſo pleaſe my Soueraigne) ere I moue, What my tong ſpeaks, my right drawn ſword may proue
    • The defense made by the prisoner's counsel did rather aggravate than extenuate his crime.
  • 2

    To make (any bad thing) worse.

    • to aggravate my woes.
    • […] to aggravate the horrors of the scene
  • 3

    archaicTo give extra weight or intensity to; to exaggerate, to magnify.

    • He aggravated the story.
  • 4

    obsoleteTo pile or heap (something heavy or onerous) on or upon someone.

    • In order to lighten the crown still further, they aggravated responsibility on ministers of state.
  • 5

    To exasperate; to provoke or irritate.

    • If both were to aggravate her parents, as my brother and sister do mine.
    • Ben Bella was aggravated by having to express himself in French because the Egyptians were unable to understand his Arabic.

aggravateadj/ˈæɡɹəvət/

  • 1

    obsoleteAggravated.

  • 2

    obsoleteLoaded, burdened, weighed down.

  • 3

    obsoleteHeightened, intensified.

  • 4

    obsoletelifestylereligionUnder ecclesiastical censure, excommunicated.

資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。