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exasperate

[v. ig-zas-puh-reyt; adj. ig-zas-per-it]

Example Sentences Origin

verb (used with object)

to irritate or provoke to a high degree; annoy extremely: He was exasperated by the senseless delays.

Archaic. to increase the intensity or violence of (disease, pain, feelings, etc.).

adjective

Botany. rough; covered with hard, projecting points, as a leaf.

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Exasperate is a GRE word you need to know.

So is expulsion. Does it mean:

to give up an alleged fugitive or criminal to an authority

driving out or expelling

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Origin:
1525–35; < Latin exasperātus (past participle of exasperāre to make rough, provoke), equivalent to ex- ex-¹ + asper harsh, rough + -ātus -ate¹

Related forms

ex·as·per·at·ed·ly, adverb

ex·as·per·at·er, noun

ex·as·per·at·ing·ly, adverb

un·ex·as·per·at·ed, adjective

un·ex·as·per·at·ing, adjective

Can be confused: exacerbate, exasperate.

Synonyms
1. incense, anger, vex, inflame, infuriate. See irritate. 2. exacerbate.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To exasperate

Example Sentences

His love for the idealized church of the past, however, will exasperate some readers.

This sigh seemed to exasperate Nikolay still more.

That seemed to exasperate him, but he uttered not a syllable of complaint.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

exasperate (ɪɡˈzɑːspəˌreɪt)

—vb
1.	to cause great irritation or anger to; infuriate
2.	to cause (an unpleasant feeling, condition, etc) to worsen; aggravate

—*adj*
3.	botany having a rough prickly surface because of the presence of hard projecting points

[C16: from Latin exasperāre to make rough, from asper rough]

ex'asperatedly

—*adv*

ex'asperater

—n

ex'asperating

—*adj*

ex'asperatingly

—*adv*

exasper'ation

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

exasperate

1530s, from L. exasperatus, pp. of exasperare "roughen, irritate," from ex- "thoroughly" + asper "rough." Related: Exasperated; exasperating.

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Related Words

acerbate exacerbate madden

provoke roil tire

Matching Quote

"The American mind exasperated the European as a buzz-saw might exasperate a pine-forest. The English mind disliked the French mind because it was antagonistic, unreasonable, perhaps hostile, but recognized it as at least a thought. The American mind was not a thought at all; it was a convention, superficial, narrow, and ignorant; a mere cutting instrument, practical, economical, sharp and direct. The English themselves hardly conceived that their mind was either economical, sharp or direct; but the defect that most struck an American was its enormous waste in eccentricity. Americans needed and used their whole energy, and applied it with close economy; but English society was eccentric by law and for sake of the eccentricity itself."

-Henry Brooks Adams

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exasperate

ex·as·per·ate