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PROVOKE: Synonyms and Related Words. What is Another Word for PROVOKE?

Need another word that means the same as “provoke”? Find 101 synonyms and 30 related words for “provoke” in this overview.

Table Of Contents:

Provoke as a Verb
Definitions of "Provoke" as a verb
Synonyms of "Provoke" as a verb (101 Words)
Usage Examples of "Provoke" as a verb
Associations of "Provoke" (30 Words)

The synonyms of “Provoke” are: arouse, elicit, enkindle, evoke, fire, kindle, raise, call forth, kick up, stimulate, beset, chevvy, chevy, chivvy, chivy, harass, harry, hassle, molest, plague, produce, cause, give rise to, occasion, draw forth, induce, inspire, excite, spark off, touch off, generate, engender, instigate, result in, lead to, bring on, contribute to, make for, foster, promote, breed, precipitate, prompt, trigger, goad, spur, prick, sting, prod, egg on, hound, badger, incite, rouse, stir, move, motivate, inflame, fire up, work up, impel, pressure, pressurize, encourage, urge, annoy, make angry, anger, incense, enrage, send into a rage, irritate, infuriate, exasperate, exacerbate, madden, pique, nettle, get a rise out of, take a rise out of, bother, upset, agitate, vex, irk, gall, get someone's back up, put someone's back up, get on someone's nerves, ruffle, ruffle someone's feathers, make someone's hackles rise, raise someone's hackles, make someone's blood boil, rub up the wrong way, put someone out, exasperating, infuriating, maddening, goading, affronting

Provoke as a Verb

Definitions of "Provoke" as a verb

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “provoke” as a verb can have the following definitions:

Stimulate or incite (someone) to do or feel something, especially by arousing anger in them.
Evoke or provoke to appear or occur.
Provide the needed stimulus for.
Stimulate or give rise to (a reaction or emotion, typically a strong or unwelcome one) in someone.
Call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses.
Deliberately make (someone) annoyed or angry.
Annoy continually or chronically.

Synonyms of "Provoke" as a verb (101 Words)

affronting	Treat, mention, or speak to rudely.
agitate	Cause to be agitated excited or roused. The thought of questioning Toby agitated him extremely.
anger	Fill someone with anger provoke anger in. I was angered to receive a further letter from them.
annoy	Cause annoyance in disturb especially by minor irritations. Your damned cheerfulness has always annoyed me.
arouse	Summon into action or bring into existence, often as if by magic. An ability to influence the audience and to arouse* the masses.*
badger	Repeatedly ask (someone) to do something; pester. Journalists badgered him about the deals.
beset	Assail or attack on all sides. Springy grass all beset* with tiny jewel like flowers.*
bother	Make nervous or agitated. He wasn t to bother* himself with day to day things.*
breed	Develop (a variety of animal or plant) for a particular purpose or quality. She breeds dogs.
bring on	Bring into a different state.
call forth	Give the calls (to the dancers) for a square dance.
cause	Give rise to cause to happen or occur not always intentionally. Cause an accident.
chevvy	Annoy continually or chronically.
chevy	Annoy continually or chronically.
chivvy	Tell (someone) repeatedly to do something. An association which chivvies government into action.
chivy	Annoy continually or chronically.
contribute to	Contribute to some cause.
draw forth	Move or go steadily or gradually.
egg on	Coat with beaten egg.
elicit	Draw forth (something that is latent or potential) into existence. I tried to elicit* a smile from Joanna.*
encourage	Stimulate the development of (an activity, state, or belief. The intention is to encourage* new writing talent.*
engender	Call forth. The issue engendered continuing controversy.
enkindle	Set on fire. Fresh remembrance of vexation must still enkindle* rage.*
enrage	Put into a rage; make violently angry. The students were enraged at these new rules.
evoke	Evoke or provoke to appear or occur. This remark evoked sadness.
exacerbate	Exasperate or irritate. The strong pound has exacerbated the situation by making it much harder for UK companies to compete on price.
exasperate	Exasperate or irritate. This futile process exasperates prison officers.
exasperating	Make worse.
excite	Cause to be agitated excited or roused. Excite the neurons.
fire	Drive out or away by or as if by fire. Another gang fired a pistol through the window of a hostel.
fire up	Terminate the employment of; discharge from an office or position.
foster	Bring up under fosterage of children. The teacher s task is to foster* learning.*
gall	Become or make sore by or as if by rubbing. It galls me that we lost the suit.
generate	Form (a line, surface, or solid) by notionally moving a point, line, or surface. We can t generate* enough power for the entire city.*
get a rise out of	Purchase.
get on someone's nerves	Acquire as a result of some effort or action.
get someone's back up	Suffer from the receipt of.
give rise to	Allow to have or take.
goad	Urge with or as if with a goad. The cowboys goaded their cattle across the meadows.
goading	Goad or provoke,as by constant criticism.
harass	Exhaust by attacking repeatedly. This man harasses his female co workers.
harry	Persistently carry out attacks on (an enemy or an enemy’s territory. The raiders then spent three months harrying and burning the area.
hassle	Harass; pester. You want to sit and relax and not get hassled.
hound	Pursue or chase relentlessly. She was hounded by the Italian press.
impel	Urge or force (a person) to an action; constrain or motivate. Vital energies impel* him in unforeseen directions.*
incense	Perfume with incense or a similar fragrance. The aroma of cannabis incensed the air.
incite	Urge on; cause to act. They conspired to incite* riots.*
induce	Initiate or enhance (a biochemical process, especially the synthesis of an enzyme). None of these measures induced a change of policy.
inflame	Become inflamed get sore. The repetitive motion inflamed her joint.
infuriate	Make furious. I was infuriated by your article.
infuriating	Make furious.
inspire	Spur on or encourage especially by cheers and shouts. They can expand their lungs and inspire* enough gas to satisfy oxygen requirements.*
instigate	Bring about or initiate (an action or event. They instigated a reign of terror.
irk	Irritate; annoy. It irks her to think of the runaround she received.
irritate	Make (someone) annoyed or a little angry. It irritates me that she never closes the door after she leaves.
kick up	Strike with the foot.
kindle	Catch fire. The young man kindled at once.
lead to	Be in charge of.
madden	Drive (someone or something) insane. This is ridiculous she told him maddened by his reaction.
maddening	Make mad.
make angry	Cause to be enjoyable or pleasurable.
make for	Make formulate or derive in the mind.
make someone's blood boil	Constitute the essence of.
make someone's hackles rise	Amount to.
motivate	Provide (someone) with a reason for doing something. He said he would motivate* funds to upgrade the food stalls.*
move	Have a turn make one s move in a game. He justly moves one s derision.
nettle	Sting with nettles. I was only asking Jess said nettled.
occasion	Give occasion to. His death occasioned her much grief.
pique	Cause to feel resentment or indignation. With his scientific curiosity piqued he was looking forward to being able to analyse his find.
plague	Annoy continually or chronically. He has been plagued by ill health.
precipitate	Cause to move suddenly and with force. The incident precipitated a political crisis.
pressure	To cause to do through pressure or necessity by physical moral or intellectual means. It might be possible to pressure* him into resigning.*
pressurize	Increase the pressure in or of. A pressurized can.
produce	Bring onto the market or release. Produce a movie.
promote	Of an additive act as a promoter of a catalyst. They are using famous personalities to promote* the library nationally.*
prompt	Cause someone to take a course of action. The violence prompted a wave of refugees to flee the country.
put someone out	Attribute or give.
put someone's back up	Arrange thoughts, ideas, temporal events.
raise	Multiply a number by itself a specified number of times 8 is 2 raised to the power 3. Raise a mutiny.
raise someone's hackles	Increase.
result in	Have as a result or residue.
rouse	Cause to be agitated excited or roused. The crowds were roused to fever pitch by the drama of the race.
rub up the wrong way	Move over something with pressure.
ruffle	Pleat or gather into a ruffle. This play is going to ruffle* some people.*
ruffle someone's feathers	Discompose.
send into a rage	Cause to go somewhere.
spark off	Put in motion or move to act.
spur	Urge a horse forward by digging one s spurs into its sides. Her sons passion for computer games spurred her on to set up a software business.
stimulate	Stir the feelings, emotions, or peace of. The courses stimulate* a passion for learning.*
sting	Cause an emotional pain as if by stinging. A nettle stings if you brush it lightly.
stir	Stir feelings in. Nothing stirred except the wind.
take a rise out of	Head into a specified direction.
touch off	Be in direct physical contact with; make contact.
trigger	Release or pull the trigger on. Trigger a reaction.
upset	Disturb the digestion of (a person’s stomach. This book upset* me.*
urge	Force or impel in an indicated direction. Do try to relax she urged.
vex	Cause distress to. A vexing problem.
work up	Use or manipulate to one’s advantage.

Usage Examples of "Provoke" as a verb

The decision provoked a storm of protest from civil rights organizations.
A teacher can provoke you into working harder.
Rachel refused to be provoked.
Her behavior provoked a quarrel between the couple.

Associations of "Provoke" (30 Words)

agitate	Cause to be agitated excited or roused. They agitated for a reversal of the decision.
annoy	Cause annoyance in disturb especially by minor irritations. The decision really annoyed him.
arouse	Awaken (someone) from sleep. This movie usually arouses the male audience.
backlash	A strong negative reaction by a large number of people, especially to a social or political development. The political movie backlashed on the Democrats.
bounce	Hit something so that it bounces. Economists agree that there could be a bounce* in prices next year.*
cringe	Draw back, as with fear or pain. I cringed at the fellow s stupidity.
enkindle	Arouse or inspire (an emotion. Fresh remembrance of vexation must still enkindle* rage.*
excite	Cause to be agitated excited or roused. The energy of an electron is sufficient to excite* the atom.*
flinch	An act of flinching. Don t call me that he said with a flinch.
foment	Try to stir up public opinion. They accused him of fomenting political unrest.
incite	Provoke or stir up. Incite a riot.
incitement	Needed encouragement. This amounted to an incitement* to commit murder.*
inflame	Become inflamed get sore. Her sister was inflamed with jealousy.
inspire	Breathe in (air); inhale. He inspired his students with a vision of freedom.
instigate	Bring about or initiate (an action or event. They instigated a reign of terror.
invoke	Cite as an authority; resort to. She invoked an ancient law.
irritation	The neural or electrical arousal of an organ or muscle or gland. Some chemicals cause a direct irritation* to the skin leading to dermatitis.*
motivate	Provide (someone) with a reason for doing something. He said he would motivate* funds to upgrade the food stalls.*
offend	Break a commonly accepted rule or principle. Her tactless remark offended me.
provocation	Something that incites or provokes; a means of arousing or stirring to action. Twenty patients had a high increase of serum gastrin after provocation* with secretin.*
rebound	The act of securing possession of the rebounding basketball after a missed shot. They revealed a big rebound* in profits for last year.*
recoil	The action of recoiling. The rifle recoiled.
shrink	Fit something tightly on or on to another object by expanding it with heat and then cooling it rapidly after positioning. The metal is unsuitable for shrinking on to wooden staves.
spring	The ability to spring back strongly elasticity. Madness and creativity could spring* from the same source.*
spur	Strike with a spur. Governments cut interest rates to spur* demand.*
stimulate	Cause to occur rapidly. The women are given fertility drugs to stimulate* their ovaries.*
stir	Mix or add by stirring. I stood straining eyes and ears for the faintest stir.
unrest	A feeling of disturbance and dissatisfaction in a person. Years of industrial unrest.
vex	Subject to prolonged examination, discussion, or deliberation. I ain t vex* with you.*
wince	Make a slight involuntary grimace or shrinking movement of the body out of pain or distress. He winced at the disgust in her voice.