Meaning & use
exasperated
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Very annoyed and frustrated, usually because something has gone wrong again or because someone is not doing what you want.
Grammar: Often followed by with or at: exasperated with the delay.
Patterns
- exasperated with someone
- exasperated at something
- exasperated by something
She was exasperated with her brother's constant excuses.
An exasperated customer waited an hour for a reply.
He gave an exasperated sigh and closed the laptop.
verbtransitive
Past tense and past participle of exasperate: made someone feel very annoyed and frustrated.
Grammar: Takes an object: the delay exasperated everyone.
Patterns
- exasperate someone
The constant noise exasperated the neighbors.
His refusal to listen exasperated the whole committee.
Her slow replies had exasperated him for weeks.
Word forms
| comparative | more exasperated |
|---|---|
| superlative | most exasperated |
Common combinations
- exasperated with someone
- The teacher was exasperated with the noisy class.
- an exasperated sigh
- He let out an exasperated sigh.
- exasperated tone
- She spoke in an exasperated tone.
- increasingly exasperated
- Increasingly exasperated, she hung up the phone.
- get exasperated
- I get exasperated when the website crashes.
Synonyms and how they differ
- irritated
- Irritated is milder and can be short-lived, while exasperated suggests patience has worn thin.
- infuriated
- Infuriated is angrier and more heated; exasperated is closer to weary frustration.
- fed up
- Fed up is informal and suggests being tired of a situation that has gone on too long.
- vexed
- Vexed is more formal or old-fashioned and often means troubled or puzzled as well as annoyed.
Opposites
Word family
- exasperate verb
- to make someone very annoyed
- exasperating adjective
- causing great frustration
- exasperation noun
- strong irritation and frustration
- exasperatingly adverb
- in a way that causes frustration
Commonly confused: exasperated or exacerbated?
exasperated vs exacerbated
Exacerbated means made worse and describes a problem or condition (exacerbated by stress), never a person's mood.
Practice
Choose the best word: The long delay only ___ the passengers' frustration.
Choose one answer.
Exacerbated means made worse and fits a thing like frustration. Exasperated describes a person who is annoyed, so it would need a person as its object, as in 'exasperated the passengers'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “exasperated”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.