aggro

[ ag-roh ]

noun

1. Chiefly British and Australian Informal. trouble; irritation:

   I'm at a place in my life where I don't want any aggro.

2. British and Australian Informal. aggressiveness, especially that of an urban youth gang or gang member.
3. (in a video game) the triggering of an enemy attack or the state of being targeted for attack; enmity; hate:

   Oof, aggro will be an issue if you try to cross a level 80 zone with a level 62 character.

verb (used with or without object)

aggroing or aggroingaggroed or aggroed

1. (in a video game)
   1. (of an enemy character) to become alert to and then target a player character for an attack: Some enemies only aggro to sound, so keep silence potions in your inventory.

      A mob aggroed our Ninja, who dragged it back to camp, which didn’t end well for any of us.

      Some enemies only aggro to sound, so keep silence potions in your inventory.

   2. (of a player character ) to strategically draw the attention of an enemy character programmed to attack, in order to counterattack:

      If you aggro all of the low-level enemies in this dungeon, you can take them out with a single spell.

aggro

/ ˈæɡrəʊ /

noun

1. slang.
   aggressive behaviour, esp by youths in a gang

Word History and Origins

Origin of aggro¹

First recorded in 1965–70; construed as a shortening of either aggravation or aggression (or aggressive ); -o

Word History and Origins

Origin of aggro¹

C20: from aggravation

Example Sentences

Hardy started recording his own songs in 2018 — “One Beer” went to No. 1 at country radio in 2020 — but he never lost his taste for the aggro sounds he expertly channels on “Quit!!”

From Los Angeles Times

If you bully women and assert your dominance, women will supposedly swoon because they secretly desire to yield to aggro dudes.

From Salon

Johnson credited his new look for giving him "that little bit of extra aggro". external-link It was part of wider approach adopted by his team.

From BBC

The music is the perfect soundtrack to Fieri’s food: dishes that are a little aggro, a little boastful and very much up in your grill.

From Washington Post

But the slightly aggro approach paid off in Wallen’s stark rendition of Jason Isbell’s “Cover Me Up,” where he squared up against the microphone like a baseball player with a bat.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• irritation