exasperate
/ɪɡˈzæsp(ə)ɹeɪt/
"exasperate" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“exasperate” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a verb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To tax the patience of; irk, frustrate, vex, provoke, annoy; to make angry.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | exasperate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ɪɡˈzæsp(ə)ɹeɪt/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “exasperate” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for exasperate is 10 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɪɡˈzæsp(ə)ɹeɪt/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "To tax the patience of; irk, frustrate, vex, provoke, annoy; to make angry.".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for exasperate, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: First attested in 1534; borrowed from Latin exasperātus, the perfect passive participle of Latin exasperō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from ex (“out of; thoroughly”) + asperō (“to make rough”), from asper (“rough”). … The correct English form is exasperate, spelled E-X-A-S-P-E-R-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1To tax the patience of; irk, frustrate, vex, provoke, annoy; to make angry.
Etymology
First attested in 1534; borrowed from Latin exasperātus, the perfect passive participle of Latin exasperō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from ex (“out of; thoroughly”) + asperō (“to make rough”), from asper (“rough”). Participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “exasperate”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is E-X-A-S-P-E-R-A-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɪɡˈzæsp(ə)ɹeɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.