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
Related Words
Other Word Forms
- misprovoke verb (used with object)
- overprovoke verb
- preprovoke verb (used with object)
- provoker noun
- provoking adjective
- provokingly adverb
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
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.
Every kennel here is full when we visit and many of them are covered by screens, because some of the dogs are so volatile our presence could provoke them.
From BBC
His tactic is to provoke negotiating partners into losing their cool.
Natural disasters are inevitable, but often, the most devastating slumber for decades, sometimes centuries, only awakening when provoked.
From Salon
The power outages that stretched into Tuesday followed a weekend of civil unrest provoked by the scarcity of food, water and other basic necessities.
I myself was provoked, but not quite sure why.
From Literature
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.
