different between aggravation vs escalation

English

Etymology

From Middle French aggravation.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -e???n

Noun

aggravation (countable and uncountable, plural aggravations)

1. The act of aggravating, or making worse; used of evils, natural or moral; the act of increasing in severity or heinousness; something additional to a crime or wrong and enhancing its guilt or injurious consequences.

   Synonym: exacerbation

   • 1826, Mary Shelley, The Last Man, part 1, chapter 10

     Adrian, whose health had always been weak, now suffered considerable aggravation of suffering from the effects of his wound.

2. Exaggerated representation.
3. An extrinsic circumstance or accident which increases the guilt of a crime or the misery of a calamity.
4. (informal) Provocation, irritation, annoyance.

Related terms

• aggravate

Translations

Further reading

• “aggravation”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.
• aggravation in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• aggravation in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

French

Pronunciation

Noun

aggravation f (plural aggravations)

1. aggravation

Further reading

• “aggravation” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

English

Etymology

From escalate +? -ion.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -e???n

Noun

escalation (countable and uncountable, plural escalations)

1. an increase or rise, especially one to counteract a perceived discrepancy
2. a deliberate or premeditated increase in the violence or geographic scope of a conflict
3. (customer support) The reassignment of a difficult customer problem to someone whose job is dedicated to handling such cases.

Derived terms

• escalation dominance
• escalation plan
• horizontal escalation
• vertical escalation

Related terms

• de-escalation

Translations

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English escalation.

Noun

escalation f (invariable)

1. escalation (all senses)

Anagrams

• anelastico