provoked

[pruh-vohkt]

adjective

1. angered or enraged.

   The boys continued to test out the improved model until it was destroyed by a provoked weasel.

   For all the hype, the “riot” was actually quite mild—just a few empty beer cans and some stones thrown by an already provoked crowd.

2. stirred up or aroused.

   The longtime columnist says that it helps to have an easily provoked sense of indignation.

   To avoid being eaten, a provoked pufferfish blows itself up into a spiny living balloon the size of a volleyball.

3. prompted or caused by some action, behavior, or circumstance; brought about, often deliberately.

   His laugh was a contagious, easily provoked chuckle.

   A provoked bite can occur when a person teases a dog or tries to take away the dog's food while the dog is eating.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of provoke.

Other Word Forms

• unprovoked adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of provoked¹

provoke ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

Beale’s attempt to modernize Lloyd’s culture and technology provoked a “complete backlash right from the beginning,” including a stream of hostile emails and letters, she said.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The long-term rise in beef prices has provoked market participants into a spate of finger-pointing, not all of which is groundless.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

This provoked yelps from technocrats who said it was impractical and superfluous.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Little did Miss Mortimer know just how much “Quinzy” would be provoked by day’s end!

Read more on Literature

“Why, the countryside is full of peasants! Who knew they could be so easily provoked? Surely we ought to get rid of them at once.”

Read more on Literature

Related Words

• incensed