- 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
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
pro•voke /prəˈvoʊk/USA pronunciation
v. [~ + object], -voked, -vok•ing.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- to cause a feeling of anger in;
annoy or exasperate:Stop provoking them with your negative comments. - to stir up, arouse, or call forth (feelings, desires, or activity):She provoked anger in a lot of people.
pro•voke
(prə vōk′),USA pronunciation v.t., -voked, -vok•ing.
pro•vok′er, n.
- to anger, enrage, exasperate, or vex.
- 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?
- [Obs.]to summon.
- Latin prōvocāre to call forth, challenge, provoke, equivalent. to prō- pro-1 + vocāre to call; akin to vōx voice
- late Middle English 1400–50
- 1. irk, annoy, aggravate, exacerbate, infuriate. See irritate. 2. rouse, instigate. 2. 3. See incite.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
provoke /prəˈvəʊk/ vb (transitive)
'provoke' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
agent provocateur
- bravado
- defy
- enrage
- evoke
- horny
- ignite
- incite
- invite
- irritate
- needle
- pick
- provocateur
- raise
- rouse
- sexy
- solicit
- surprise
- taunt
- work
- arouse
- billow
- chafe
- court
- dare
- exacerbate
- exasperate
- excite
- foment
- heckle
- incense
- incur
- instigate
- joke
- lion
- madden
- miff
- misprovoke
- motivate
- nerve
- nettle
- offend
- pass
- pester
- pique
- preprovoke
- provocation
- provocative
- provoking
- put