Definition of "exasperate" []

• To make very angry or impatient; annoy greatly. (verb-transitive)
• To increase the gravity or intensity of: "a scene . . . that exasperates his rose fever and makes him sneeze” ( Samuel Beckett). (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "North and encouraged the desperate foe by efforts at peace-parties, conciliations, outcries for amnesty, and entreaties not to 'exasperate' the enemy."
• "I am firm, and your words will only exasperate my rage."
• "They are clear about what they want and don't want, as opposed to nice people, who can be so vague that they exasperate you when you just want them to "spit it out.""