provoke
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pro·voke
(prə-vōk′)tr.v. pro·voked, pro·vok·ing, pro·vokes
1. To incite to anger or resentment: taunts that provoked their rivals.
2. To stir to action or feeling: a remark that provoked me to reconsider.
3. To give rise to; bring about: a miscue that provoked laughter; news that provoked an uproar.
4. To bring about deliberately; induce: provoke a fight.
[Middle English provoken, from Old French provoquer, from Latin prōvocāre, to challenge : prō-, forth; see pro-1 + vocāre, to call; see wekw- in Indo-European roots.]
Synonyms: provoke, incite, excite, stimulate, arouse, rouse, stir1
These verbs mean to move a person to action or feeling or to summon something into being by so moving a person. Provoke often merely states the consequences produced: "Let my presumption not provoke thy wrath" (Shakespeare)."a situation which in the country would have provoked meetings" (John Galsworthy).
To incite is to provoke and urge on: Members of the opposition incited the insurrection. Excite implies a strong or emotional reaction: The movie will fail—the plot excites little interest or curiosity. Stimulate suggests renewed vigor of action as if by spurring or goading: "Our vigilance was stimulated by our finding traces of a large ... encampment" (Francis Parkman).
To arouse means to awaken, as from inactivity or apathy; rouse means the same, but more strongly implies vigorous or emotional excitement: "In a democratic society like ours, relief must come through an aroused popular conscience that sears the conscience of the people's representatives" (Felix Frankfurter)."The oceangoing steamers ... roused in him wild and painful longings" (Arnold Bennett).
To stir is to cause activity, strong but usually agreeable feelings, trouble, or commotion: "It was him as stirred up th' young woman to preach last night" (George Eliot)."I have seldom been so ... stirred by any piece of writing" (Mark Twain). See Also Synonyms at annoy.
These verbs mean to move a person to action or feeling or to summon something into being by so moving a person. Provoke often merely states the consequences produced: "Let my presumption not provoke thy wrath" (Shakespeare)."a situation which in the country would have provoked meetings" (John Galsworthy).
To incite is to provoke and urge on: Members of the opposition incited the insurrection. Excite implies a strong or emotional reaction: The movie will fail—the plot excites little interest or curiosity. Stimulate suggests renewed vigor of action as if by spurring or goading: "Our vigilance was stimulated by our finding traces of a large ... encampment" (Francis Parkman).
To arouse means to awaken, as from inactivity or apathy; rouse means the same, but more strongly implies vigorous or emotional excitement: "In a democratic society like ours, relief must come through an aroused popular conscience that sears the conscience of the people's representatives" (Felix Frankfurter)."The oceangoing steamers ... roused in him wild and painful longings" (Arnold Bennett).
To stir is to cause activity, strong but usually agreeable feelings, trouble, or commotion: "It was him as stirred up th' young woman to preach last night" (George Eliot)."I have seldom been so ... stirred by any piece of writing" (Mark Twain). See Also Synonyms at annoy.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
provoke
(prəˈvəʊk)vb (tr)
1. to anger or infuriate
2. to cause to act or behave in a certain manner; incite or stimulate
3. to promote (certain feelings, esp anger, indignation, etc) in a person
4. obsolete to summon
[C15: from Latin prōvocāre to call forth, from vocāre to call]
proˈvoking adj
proˈvokingly adv
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
pro•voke
(prəˈvoʊk)v.t. -voked, -vok•ing.
1. to anger, exasperate, or vex.
2. to stir up, arouse, or call forth (feelings, desires, or activity).
3. to incite or stimulate to action.
4. to give rise to, induce, or bring about.
[1400–50; < Latin prōvocāre to call forth, challenge, provoke =prō- pro-1 + vocāre to call]
pro•vok′er, n.
syn: See incite.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
provoke
Past participle: provoked
Gerund: provoking
| Imperative |
|---|
| provoke |
| provoke |
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Switch to new thesaurus
| Verb | 1. |  provoke - call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses); "arouse pity"; "raise a smile"; "evoke sympathy"touch a chord, strike a chord - evoke a reaction, response, or emotion; "this writer strikes a chord with young women"; "The storyteller touched a chord" draw - elicit responses, such as objections, criticism, applause, etc.; "The President's comments drew sharp criticism from the Republicans"; "The comedian drew a lot of laughter" rekindle - arouse again; "rekindle hopes"; "rekindle her love" infatuate - arouse unreasoning love or passion in and cause to behave in an irrational way; "His new car has infatuated him"; "love has infatuated her" prick - to cause a sharp emotional pain; "The thought of her unhappiness pricked his conscience" fire up, stir up, wake, heat, ignite, inflame - arouse or excite feelings and passions; "The ostentatious way of living of the rich ignites the hatred of the poor"; "The refugees' fate stirred up compassion around the world"; "Wake old feelings of hatred" stimulate, stir, shake up, excite, shake - stir the feelings, emotions, or peace of; "These stories shook the community"; "the civil war shook the country" excite - arouse or elicit a feeling anger - make angry; "The news angered him" shame - cause to be ashamed spite, bruise, injure, offend, hurt - hurt the feelings of; "She hurt me when she did not include me among her guests"; "This remark really bruised my ego" overwhelm, sweep over, whelm, overpower, overtake, overcome - overcome, as with emotions or perceptual stimuli interest - excite the curiosity of; engage the interest of |
| 2. | provoke - evoke or provoke to appear or occur; "Her behavior provoked a quarrel between the couple" bring up, call down, conjure, conjure up, invoke, call forth, put forward, arouse, evoke, stir, raise - summon into action or bring into existence, often as if by magic; "raise the specter of unemployment"; "he conjured wild birds in the air"; "call down the spirits from the mountain" cause, do, make - give rise to; cause to happen or occur, not always intentionally; "cause a commotion"; "make a stir"; "cause an accident" pick - provoke; "pick a fight or a quarrel" | |
| 3. | provoke - provide the needed stimulus for entice, lure, tempt - provoke someone to do something through (often false or exaggerated) promises or persuasion; "He lured me into temptation" rejuvenate - cause (a stream or river) to erode, as by an uplift of the land jog - stimulate to remember; "jog my memory" instigate, incite, stir up, set off - provoke or stir up; "incite a riot"; "set off great unrest among the people" challenge - issue a challenge to; "Fischer challenged Spassky to a match" | |
| 4. |  provoke - annoy continually or chronically; "He is known to harry his staff when he is overworked"; "This man harasses his female co-workers"needle, goad - goad or provoke,as by constant criticism; "He needled her with his sarcastic remarks" annoy, devil, gravel, irritate, nark, rile, vex, nettle, rag, bother, chafe, get at, get to - cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations; "Mosquitoes buzzing in my ear really bothers me"; "It irritates me that she never closes the door after she leaves" bedevil, dun, rag, torment, frustrate, crucify - treat cruelly; "The children tormented the stuttering teacher" haze - harass by imposing humiliating or painful tasks, as in military institutions |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
provoke
verb
1. anger, insult, annoy, offend, irritate, infuriate, hassle (informal), aggravate (informal), incense, enrage, gall, put someone out, madden, exasperate, vex, affront, chafe, irk, rile, pique, get on someone's nerves (informal), get someone's back up, piss someone off (taboo slang), put someone's back up, try someone's patience, nark (Brit., Austral., & N.Z. slang), make someone's blood boil, get in someone's hair (informal), rub someone up the wrong way (informal), take a rise out of I didn't want to do anything to provoke him.
anger calm, appease, placate, quiet, soothe, sweeten, pacify, mollify, conciliate, propitiate
anger calm, appease, placate, quiet, soothe, sweeten, pacify, mollify, conciliate, propitiate
2. rouse, cause, produce, lead to, move, fire, promote, occasion, excite, inspire, generate, prompt, stir, stimulate, motivate, induce, bring about, evoke, give rise to, precipitate, elicit, inflame, incite, instigate, kindle, foment, call forth, draw forth, bring on or down His comments have provoked a shocked reaction.
rouse ease, relieve, moderate, modify, temper, curb, blunt, lessen, lull, allay, mitigate, abate, assuage
rouse ease, relieve, moderate, modify, temper, curb, blunt, lessen, lull, allay, mitigate, abate, assuage
Quotations
"No-one provokes me with impunity (Nemo me impune lacessit)" Motto of the Crown of Scotland and of all Scottish regiments
"No-one provokes me with impunity (Nemo me impune lacessit)" Motto of the Crown of Scotland and of all Scottish regiments
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
provoke
verb1. To cause to feel or show anger:
Idioms: make one hot under the collar, make one's blood boil, put one's back up.
2. To trouble the nerves or peace of mind of, especially by repeated vexations:
aggravate, annoy, bother, bug, chafe, disturb, exasperate, fret, gall, get, irk, irritate, nettle, peeve, put out, rile, ruffle, vex.
Idioms: get in one's hair, get on one's nerves, get under one's skin.
3. To stir to action or feeling:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
يُثير، يَستَفِزيُسَبِّبيَسْتَفِز
provokovatrozzlobitvzbudit
fremkaldeprovokere
provokál
ergjaespavalda
išprovokuotiprovokacijaprovokacinisprovokatoriškaiprovokuojantis
izaicinātizprovocētizraisīt, izsauktkaitinātprovocēt
provokovať
kışkırtmakkızdırmakneden olmaköfkelendirmektahrik etmek
provoke
[prəˈvəʊk] VT1. (= cause) [+ reaction, response] → provocar; [+ violence] → provocar, causar; [+ crisis] → causar
2. (= rouse, move) → incitar, mover (to a) it provoked us to action → nos incitó a obrar
it provoked the town to revolt → incitó la ciudad a sublevarse
to provoke sb into doing sth → incitar a algn a hacer algo
it provoked the town to revolt → incitó la ciudad a sublevarse
to provoke sb into doing sth → incitar a algn a hacer algo
3. (= anger) → provocar, irritar
he is easily provoked → se irrita por cualquier cosa, se le provoca fácilmente
he is easily provoked → se irrita por cualquier cosa, se le provoca fácilmente
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
provoke
[prəˈvəʊk] vt (= annoy) [+ person] → provoquer
They are armed and ready to shoot if provoked → Ils sont armés et prêts à tirer si on les provoque.
to provoke each other → se provoquer
to provoke sb into doing sth → pousser qn à faire qch
They are armed and ready to shoot if provoked → Ils sont armés et prêts à tirer si on les provoque.
to provoke each other → se provoquer
to provoke sb into doing sth → pousser qn à faire qch
(= cause, give rise to) [+ reaction, criticism, anger] → provoquer
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
provoke
vt sb → provozieren, reizen, herausfordern; animal → reizen; reaction, anger, criticism, dismay, smile → hervorrufen; lust, pity → erwecken, erregen; reply, dispute → provozieren; discussion, revolt, showdown → herbeiführen, auslösen; to provoke a quarrel or an argument (person) → Streit suchen; (action) → zu einem Streit führen; to provoke somebody into doing something or to do something → jdn dazu bringen, dass er etw tut; (= taunt) → jdn dazu treiben or so provozieren, dass er etw tut
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
provoke
[prəˈvəʊk] vt (gen) → provocare, incitareto provoke sb to sth/to do or into doing sth → spingere qn a qc/a fare qc
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
provoke
(prəˈvəuk) verb1. to make angry or irritated. Are you trying to provoke me?
2. to cause. His words provoked laughter.
3. to cause (a person etc) to react in an angry way. He was provoked into hitting her.
provocation (provəˈkeiʃən) noun the act of provoking or state of being provoked.
proˈvocative (-ˈvokətiv) adjective likely to rouse feeling, especially anger or sexual interest. provocative remarks; a provocative dress.
proˈvocatively adverbKernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
provoke
vt provocarEnglish-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.