aggravé

Aggravé is the past participle and adjective form of the French verb aggraver, meaning to make something worse or more serious. As an adjective, aggravé describes conditions, injuries, offenses, or circumstances that are intensified or more severe. It is commonly used with nouns such as blessures aggravées (aggravated injuries), crimes aggravés (aggravated crimes), or circonstances aggravantes (aggravating circumstances). In everyday language as well as professional contexts, one may encounter phrases like symptômes aggravés (worsened symptoms) or la situation s’est aggravée (the situation has worsened).

Etymology: aggravé derives from aggraver, which combines the prefix ad- (toward) with gravare, from Latin gravis meaning heavy or weighty. The sense is “to weigh down further” or “to make heavier.”

Legal usage: In law, aggravé commonly modifies offenses to indicate heightened seriousness. Examples include crime aggravé, agression aggravée, or délits aggravés, where penalties are increased. Circonstances aggravantes are factors that justify harsher punishment. In civil law, dommages aggravés (aggravated damages) or dommages-intérêts aggravés refer to enhanced compensation when wrongful acts involve aggravating elements.

Other contexts: Aggravé also appears in medical and general speech to describe deterioration, as in maladie aggravée or symptômes aggravés, where a condition or its manifestations have worsened. The term is widely used in French and is commonly translated into English as “aggravated.”