exasperate

/ɪɡˈzæsp(ə)ɹeɪt/

//ɪɡˈzæsp(ə)ɹeɪt// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"exasperate" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“exasperate” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To tax the patience of; irk, frustrate, vex, provoke, annoy; to make angry.

Corpus desk

Index EN-exasperate · exasperate · English

exasperate · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "E" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for exasperate
PropertyValue
Headwordexasperate
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ɪɡˈzæsp(ə)ɹeɪt/
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “exasperate” sits in English frequency

exasperate falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

exasperate is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /ɪɡˈzæsp(ə)ɹeɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "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

  1. 1
    To tax the patience of; irk, frustrate, vex, provoke, annoy; to make angry.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how exasperate appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. And this report Hath so exasperate [sic] the king that he Prepares for some attempt of war.
  2. The picture represents a Cape-Horner in a great hurricane; the half-foundered ship weltering there with its three dismantled masts alone visible; and an exasperated whale, purposing to spring clean over the craft, is in the enormous act of impaling himself upon the three mast-heads.

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

exasperar(Español)exaspérer(Français)verärgern(Deutsch)exasperar(Português)

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "exasperate"?
"exasperate" is spelled E-X-A-S-P-E-R-A-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ɪɡˈzæsp(ə)ɹeɪt/.
What does "exasperate" mean?
As a verb, "exasperate" means: To tax the patience of; irk, frustrate, vex, provoke, annoy; to make angry.
How do you pronounce "exasperate"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "exasperate" is /ɪɡˈzæsp(ə)ɹeɪt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "exasperate"?
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 (... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

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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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list