provoke
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to anger, enrage, exasperate, or vex.
- Synonyms:
- infuriate, exacerbate, aggravate, annoy, irk
-
to stir up, arouse, or call forth (feelings, desires, or activity).
The mishap provoked a hearty laugh.
-
to incite or stimulate (a person, animal, etc.) to action.
-
to give rise to, induce, or bring about.
What could have provoked such an incident?
-
Obsolete. to summon.
verb
-
to anger or infuriate
-
to cause to act or behave in a certain manner; incite or stimulate
-
to promote (certain feelings, esp anger, indignation, etc) in a person
-
obsolete to summon
Synonym Usage
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
provokernoun
-
overprovokeverb
-
misprovokeverb (used with object)
-
preprovokeverb (used with object)
-
provokingadjective
-
provokinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
provokesimple
-
provokessimple
-
have provokedperfect
-
has provokedperfect
-
am provokingprogressive
-
are provokingprogressive
-
is provokingprogressive
-
have been provokingperfect progressive
-
has been provokingperfect progressive
Past
-
provokedsimple
-
had provokedperfect
-
was provokingprogressive
-
were provokingprogressive
-
had been provokingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of provoke
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin prōvocāre “to call forth, challenge, provoke,” equivalent to prō- pro- 1 + vocāre “to call”; akin to vōx voice
Explanation
Anything that brings about a strong reaction can be said to provoke. You can provoke that lion if you want. But if he responds by attacking, don't come running to me. Let's consider some people who have been known to provoke. Lenny Bruce, was more than just a comedian. He was a "provocateur" who used humor to deliver his controversial diatribes. Humor was his way to provoke people to think. Madonna made her name not only by producing a memorable catalogue of great pop songs, she proved herself to be a master at provoking people through her outrageous attire and lyrics. The moral of this story? It's possible to provoke both positive and negative responses.
Vocabulary lists containing provoke
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Bud, Not Buddy
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Unit 1: Telling Details
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Refn: How to provoke the soul is through stillness and silence.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
"They were going to come at us hard, commit fouls, and try to provoke us," added the defender, a Premier League winner with Arsenal.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
But unlike the penalty kick Messi missed in North America 10 years ago in the Copa America, this one didn’t provoke a retirement tantrum.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
"We must stop accepting levels of child deaths that would provoke international outrage anywhere else in the world," he said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026
The words are designed to provoke a reaction—and they do.
From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly
Truly creative and inspiring art undermines that goal, because it provokes responses like empathy and critical thinking in audiences — which gets in the way of authoritarian domination.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
For the past decade or so, there has been an international football star whose name provokes a smile of recognition among residents of a south of Scotland town.
From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026
Ms. Enyedi implicitly provokes such consideration through shots that often put flora in the foreground, with humans reduced to background extras.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
The worry "is that the tariff threat provokes retaliatory actions by the EU, triggering a new trade war," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.
From Barron's ● Jan. 20, 2026
After years of threats and insane posturing, it’s Fox’s early cancellation of Bunker that provokes North Korea’s supreme leader to action.
From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson
The dismissal provoked criticism among Ukrainians who credit Mykhailo Fedorov for his efforts to modernize the country’s armed forces.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
That conflict provoked a sharp contraction in the manufacturing economy, with the Institute for Supply Management’s purchasing managers index falling to 49.1 by mid-2019.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
But it provoked a war that despite the regime's survival has done huge damage to Iran.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
South Korea hit e-commerce giant Coupang with a record $408 million fine Thursday over a leak that allegedly exposed more than 30 million customers' data and has provoked the ire of US lawmakers.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
News of the Reverend Smith’s death provoked a huge outcry in British newspapers and in Parliament.
From "Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science" by Marc Aronson
For some time, Nicaragua’s leaders have largely avoided provoking Trump.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
The decisive question is how long Iran's leaders can preserve Hormuz as leverage without provoking an all-out war, renewed unrest or the construction of alternative routes that make the strait matter less.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
When the king made plans to visit Canada, Starmer was nervous about provoking the U.S. president, according to officials involved in those discussions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
Price increases raise concern that consumers will buy fewer devices, reducing memory demand overall, as well as provoking worries about frosty relationships between the memory-chip companies and their biggest customers.
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026
His attempted poaching of Fermi succeeded only in provoking an outraged protest by Columbia to Bush, who forbade the move.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
