Legal Definitions - aggravate

Definition: Aggravate means to make a crime more serious or severe.

For example, if someone commits a robbery and then uses a weapon to threaten the victim, this would aggravate the crime and make it more serious.

In legal terms, aggravating factors can be used to increase the severity of a sentence. For instance, if someone is convicted of a drug offense and it is found that they were selling drugs to minors, this would be an aggravating factor that could result in a longer prison sentence.

Overall, aggravate means to make something worse or more serious, especially in the context of criminal activity.