exasperate – Irritate intensely; infuriate.
I've seen many entries in dictionaries that have two set of definition like the above "irritate intensely" and "infuriate". What does this mean?
If I use this word in a sentence, will it mean both "infuriate" and "irritate intensely" or either one? For example if you consider the sample sentence below, did they walk intensely irritatedly or in infuriation, or both?
We paced up and down in exasperation.
Best Answer
If I read that in a book (we paced up and down in exasperation) - I would take it to mean much more tame than infuriate or or irritation.
It's more like 'She was always late and it exasperated her husband' or 'The meetings are exasperating, but necessary.' -- If you were exasperated you would roll your eyes or shake your head, but you wouldn't punch someone... for example.