verb
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to annoy or anger; irritate
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to stir up or agitate (water, etc); roil or make turbid
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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rilesimple
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rilessimple
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have riledperfect
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has riledperfect
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am rilingprogressive
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are rilingprogressive
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is rilingprogressive
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have been rilingperfect progressive
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has been rilingperfect progressive
Past
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riledsimple
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had riledperfect
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was rilingprogressive
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were rilingprogressive
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had been rilingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of rile
First recorded in 1815–25; variant of roil
Explanation
To rile someone is to annoy or bother them. For example, a friend might rile you by constantly texting when you're trying to have a conversation with her. You can also rile water, meaning you make it muddy by stirring it up. The verb rile is derived from roil, and they basically mean the same thing. However, rile is more commonly used to mean "annoy" and roil mostly describes stirred liquid. If you rile up your sister, what you say makes gets her worked up, ready to argue with you. When a kid splashes around in the tub, the water is roiled — but if it gets all over the floor, his parents will be riled.
Vocabulary lists containing rile
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
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The Odyssey
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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:
That would usually rile me up to try to bowl quicker in order to not let him have it his way.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
Fisher says he didn’t want to rile them by suggesting it was better for them, more reflective of their ability.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026
Japan votes in snap elections Sunday with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hoping to turn a honeymoon start into a resounding ballot box victory that could rile China and rattle financial markets.
From Barron's ● Feb. 7, 2026
“Basically, Megan was like, ‘What’s the performance of your generation that would rile everyone up?’
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2024
And although we hadn’t had any part in this latest plan to rile Tommy, we had taken out ringside seats, and we were starting to feel guilty.
From "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro
These posts are selected for users based on programming rules called algorithms that predict what you will engage with -- whether it's something you like, or that riles you.
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
"Something that riles me is people say it's so much harder to diagnose women because they mask well," she say.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
Lalas, never timid about a brash, attention-seeking rant, riles up TV audiences in a way that makes Stephen A. Smith resemble Mr. Rogers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
“It is the kind of thing that riles people up, and that makes our situation in Arizona and other states more dangerous,” he said.
From Salon ● Nov. 2, 2024
The resentment of new money riles Liz Petkevich, whose husband, J. Misha Petkevich, an investment banker and former Olympic figure skater, helped found the new yacht club.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
Earlier this month, the 56-year-old riled up New Zealand's business community after a speech calling on small business owners to "be adult".
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
Or you can get riled up with impatience, jealousy and/or dismay with a self-confessed couple who has everything, including $6 million set aside for retirement, and still want advice.
From MarketWatch ● May 13, 2026
It riled up the sizable, ecologically minded community.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 10, 2026
Of course, even he can get riled up by ill-timed laughter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
“There’s that nest everyone’s so riled up about,” he said to Dan Martin, a Mohawk Indian whose balance and fearlessness on high girders made him one of the most valuable bridge workers.
From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
And Mainers have spoken about his talent for riling up a crowd with an uncommon magnetism.
From Slate ● Jul. 8, 2026
But posts like these no longer seem to be riling up Gen Z.
From BBC ● Feb. 28, 2026
The “overtourism” that irks residents of Venice and Barcelona is also riling locals in Osaka and Kyoto, where kimono-clad visitors clog the streets and temples to secure their snapshots for social media.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2025
That weekend, “60 Minutes” ran its report on Trump and the law firms, riling Redstone and others.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2025
“Okay, okay. Tell me something else you remember,” I said, even though I loved Sox trivia and riling up Mr. Patterson.
From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen
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.
