aggrieve
Americanverb (used with object)
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to oppress or wrong grievously; injure by injustice.
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to afflict with pain, anxiety, etc.
verb
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(often impersonal or passive) to grieve; distress; afflict
it aggrieved her much that she could not go
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to injure unjustly, esp by infringing a person's legal rights
Other Word Forms
- aggrievement noun
Etymology
Origin of aggrieve
1250–1300; Middle English agreven < Middle French agrever < Latin aggravāre to make heavy, worsen, equivalent to ag- ag- + grav- ( grave 2 ) + -āre infinitive suffix; aggravate
Explanation
To aggrieve someone is a lousy thing to do. Not sure why? See the "grieve" in there, and you'll see why. It means to bring someone sorrow. Which one of us is the aggrieved party? Well, considering it was you who let your pigs run roughshod over my lawn, I think it's clear that it's you who aggrieved me. Or, to put it another way, I've been aggrieved by you and your horrible hogs. When you're talking about interpersonal issues, to aggrieve someone is to hurt their feelings, but in the legal sense, it means something slightly different: it's not feelings that are hurt when one is aggrieved, but one's rights.
Vocabulary lists containing aggrieve
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Good Grief!: Grav, Griev
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A Thousand Splendid Suns
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They are notorious goons, despised virtually everywhere for their ability to agitate, aggrieve and annoy.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 14, 2026
The government says the main legislation relevant to spiking is Section 24 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861, which includes maliciously administering poison with intent to injure, aggrieve or annoy that person.
From BBC • Oct. 5, 2024
“That is going to aggrieve the victims of the institution of slavery, which are the direct descendants of the enslaved people in the United States,” she said.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 29, 2022
The morals still aggrieve him and, even with Terry no longer around, that makes it a calculated gamble on Hodgson's part.
From The Guardian • Mar. 14, 2013
And wherefore yet delayeth the reprieve Of Love, that doth not willingly afflict Its children, neither wantonly aggrieve?
From Old-Fashioned Ethics and Common-Sense Metaphysics With Some of Their Applications by Thornton, William Thomas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
