provoke

Verb

Verb Forms: provoked, provoking, provokes

• To stimulate or incite a reaction, especially an undesirable one.
• call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses)
• evoke or provoke to appear or occur
  • "Her behavior provoked a quarrel between the couple"
• provide the needed stimulus for
• annoy continually or chronically
• To cause someone to become annoyed or angry.
• To bring about a reaction.
• To appeal.

Examples

• Don't provoke the dog; it may try to bite you.
• His constant playing of short, obscure words was meant to provoke a challenge.

Synonyms

arouse, beset, call forth, chevvy, chevy, chivvy, chivy, elicit, enkindle, evoke, fire, harass, harry, hassle, kick up, kindle, molest, plague, raise, stimulate, Idioms:, abet, actuate, affront, aggravate, anger, annoy, antagonize, awrath, bedevil, boil someone's piss, bother, botherate, bring about, bug, burn up, chap someone's hide, cheer, cheese off, cross, devil, disgruntle, drive, egg on, embitter, encourage, engender, envenom, exasperate, excite, foment, frustrate, gall, get, get on someone's nerves, get on someone's tits, get on someone's wick, get one's back up, get someone's Irish up, get someone's back up, get someone's dander up, get someone's goat, get someone's nanny, get someone's nanny-goat, get to, get under one's goat, get up, give someone the shits, goad, grate, grill, grind one's gears, grotch, hack off, harsh one's mellow, honk off, ignite, impel, incense, incite, induce, inflame, infuriate, instigate, invoke, irk, irritate, jazz, lash, madden, make angry, make someone see red, make someone's blood boil, mommick, motivate, motive, move, nark, obligate, oblige, offend, outrage, pee off, peeve, persecute, pique, piss off, promote, prompt, provoke, push, put out, put someone's back up, raise someone's hackles, raise someone's shag, rankle, rattle someone's cage, rile, rile up, roil, rouse, rub someone the wrong way, rub the wrong way, rub up the wrong way, ruffle, ruffle some feathers, ruffle someone's feathers, send, set off, set up someone's birse, spark off, spur, spur on, steam, sting, stir, stir up, stoke, storm, tee off, tempt, test someone's patience, tick off, torque off, trouble, try one's patience, urge, vex, whet, whip up, wind up

Related Words

evoke, invoke, provocateur, revoke