Which to use
“aggravate” is a verb and “aggregate” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #36,851
- “aggravate” frequency rank
- #7,766
- “aggregate” frequency rank
- 44617
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aggravate | aggregate |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To make (an offence) worse or more severe; to increase in offensiveness or heinousness. | A mass, assemblage, or sum of particulars; something consisting of elements but considered as a whole. |
Where the eye mixes aggravate and aggregate
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses aggravate with aggregate
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aggravate is /ˈæɡ.ɹə.veɪ̯t/ while aggregate is /ˈæɡ.ɹɪ.ɡət/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44617, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
aggravate is recorded at frequency rank #36,851, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈæɡ.ɹə.veɪ̯t/. aggregate is at rank #7,766, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈæɡ.ɹɪ.ɡət/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 44617, this pair ranks #228,907 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of aggravate vs aggregate
Shared letters: aegrt. Private to "aggravate": v. Private to "aggregate": -.
"aggravate" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCVCV · "aggregate" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "aggravate" for "aggregate" ever safe?
Frequency check: "aggravate" vs "aggregate" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "aggravate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "aggregate" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #228,907 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "aggravate" and "aggregate" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aggravate vs aggravated". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #228,907 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.