provoke

pro·voke  (pr-vk)

tr.v. pro·voked, pro·vok·ing, pro·vokes

1. To incite to anger or resentment.

2. To stir to action or feeling.

3. To give rise to; evoke: provoke laughter.

4. To bring about deliberately; induce: provoke a fight.

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[Middle English provoken, from Old French provoquer, from Latin prvocre, to challenge : pr-, forth; see pro-¹ + vocre, to call; see wek^w- 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.

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provoke

Verb

[-voking, -voked]

1. to deliberately act in a way intended to anger someone: waving a red cape, Delgado provoked the animal into charging

2. to incite or stimulate: the army seems to have provoked this latest confrontation

3. (often foll. by into)to cause a person to react in a particular, often angry, way: keeping your true motives hidden may provoke others into being just as two-faced with you

4. to bring about: the case has provoked furious public debate [Latin provocare to call forth]

provoking adj

Thesaurus

Verb	1.	provoke - call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses); "arouse pity"; "raise a smile"; "evoke sympathy" arouse, elicit, evoke, enkindle, kindle, fire, raise create, make - make or cause to be or to become; "make a mess in one's office"; "create a furor" 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" ask for, invite - increase the likelihood of; "ask for trouble"; "invite criticism" 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" discomfit, discompose, untune, upset, disconcert - cause to lose one's composure shame - cause to be ashamed spite, wound, 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" call forth, evoke, kick up 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 stimulate 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" agitate, foment, stir up - try to stir up public opinion
	4.	provoke - annoy continually or chronically; "He is known to harry his staff when he is overworked"; "This man harasses his female co-workers" beset, chevvy, chevy, chivvy, chivy, harass, harry, hassle, molest, plague 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

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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, 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, hack someone off (informal) << OPPOSITE pacify

verb 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 << OPPOSITE curb

Translations

provoke [prəˈvəuk] vt (= arouse) → provocar, incitar (= cause); causar, producir [+ anger]; enojar;

to provoke sb to sth/to do or into doing sth → provocar a algn a algo/a hacer algo

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provoke [prəˈvəuk] vt → provoquer;

to provoke sb to sth/to do or into doing sth → pousser qn à qch/à faire qch

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provoke [prəˈvəuk] vt [+ person] → provozieren, herausfordern [+ fight]; herbeiführen [+ reaction etc]; hervorrufen;

to provoke sb to do or into doing sth → jdn dazu provozieren, etw zu tun

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provoke [prəˈvəuk] vt → provocare; incitare;

to provoke sb to sth/to do or into doing sth → spingere qn a qc/a fare qc

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provoke

v provoke [prəˈvəuk]

1 to make angry or irritated Are you trying to provoke me? uitlok, tart يُثير، يَستَفِز предизвиквам provokovat provokere verärgern προκαλώ, ερεθίζω κπ. provocar provotseerima عصبانی کردن provosoida provoquer לְהַרגִיז क्रुद्ध करना, उत्तेजित करना bosszant memancing kemarahan ergja provocare 怒らせる 화나게 하다 (su)pykdyti, (su)erzinti []provocēt; kaitināt membangkitkan kemarahan uitdagen provosere, utfordre sprowokować provocar a pro­­voca сердить, раздражать provokovať razdražiti provocirati reta upp ยั่วยุอารมณ์ kızdırmak, öfkelendirmek 激怒，挑舋 сердити, роздратовувати بھڑکانا، اشتعال دلانا chọc tức; khiêu khích 激怒，挑衅

2 to cause His words provoked laughter. veroorsaak يُسَبِّب подтиквам vzbudit fremkalde hervorrufen προξενώ provocar esile kutsuma موجب شدن aikaansaada provoquer לְעוֹרֵר उत्पन्न करना, कारण होना okoz menyebabkan valda provocare 引き起こす ...을 일으키다 sukelti izraisīt, izsaukt menimbulkan veroorzaken utløse, vekke wywołać provocar a provoca вызывать vyvolať izzvati izazvati framkalla เป็นเหตุให้ neden olmak, yol açmak 引起 викликати باعث ہونا gây ra 引起

3 to cause (a person etc) to react in an angry way He was provoked into hitting her. uitlok يَسْتَفِز провокирам rozzlobit provokere provozieren προκαλώ provocar ässitama تحریک کردن härnätä provoquer לְגָרוֹת आकर्षित करने की कोशिश करना, प्रदर्शित करना provokál membangkitkan kemarahan espa provocare 刺激する ...을 자극하여 ...시키다, 도발하다 išprovokuoti []provocēt; izaicināt memberangsangkan kwaad maken zo dat provosere, terge prowokować provocar a pro­voca провоцировать rozhnevať izzvati isprovocirati provocera ทำให้โกรธ kışkırtmak, tahrik etmek 迫使(某人做出憤怒反應) провокувати اشتعال دلانا khiến 迫使（某人做出愤怒反应）

n provocation [provəˈkeiʃən]

the act of provoking or state of being provoked. uitlokking, tarting إثارَه، إسْتِفْزاز провокация provokace provokation die Provokation πρόκληση provocación provokatsioon تحریک yllytys provocation לְהִתגָרוֹת छेड़खानी, छेड़छाड़, उत्तेजन provokáció provokasi ögrun provocazione 刺激 자극, 도발; 화 provokacija provokācija; izaicinājums provokasi provocatie provokasjon prowokacja provocação provocare провокация; раздражение provokácia izzivanje provokacija provokation การยั่วยุอารมณ์ kışkırtma, öfkelendirme 挑舋，激怒 підбурювання; провокація اشتعال sự khiêu khích 挑衅，激怒

adj proˈvocative [-ˈvokətiv]

likely to rouse feeling, especially anger or sexual interest provocative remarks; a provocative dress. uitlokkend, tartend مُثير، مُهَيِّج провокативен vyzývavý provokerende aufreizend προκλητικός provocador; (sexual) provocativo provokatiivne تحریک آمیز provosoiva provocant, provocateur פְּרוֹבוֹקָטִיבִי उत्तेजक, प्रेरक, उद्दीपक kihívó provokatif ögrandi, æsandi provocatorio; provocante 刺激的な 화나게 하는, 자극하는 provokacinis, provokuojantis, gundantis provokatorisks; izaicinošs bersikap provokatif uitdagend opphissende, pirrende prowokujący provocante provo­cator вызывающий vyzývavý izzivalen provokativan provokativ, utmanande กวนโทสะ kışkırtıcı, tahrik edici 挑舋的，激發的 провокаційний اشتعال انگيز، ہيجان خيز khiêu khích 挑衅的，激发的

adv proˈvocatively

uitlokkend, tartend بِصورَةٍ إسْتِفْزازيَّه провокативно dráždivě provokerende provozierend προκλητικά provocativamente provokatiivselt بطور تحریک آمیز provosoivasti d'une manière provocante/provocatrice בְּאוֹפֶן פְּרוֹבוֹקָטִיבִי उत्तेजकता से, प्रेरकता से kihívóan secara provokatif á ögrandi hátt in maniera provocatoria/provocante 挑発的に 화나게 provokatoriškai provokatoriski; izaicinoši provokatif uitdagend provoserende, opphissende, utfordrende prowokująco provocantemente (în mod) provocator вызывающе provokatívne izzivalno provokativno provokativt, utmanande อย่างยั่วโมโห kışkırtarak, tahrik ederek 挑舋地 провокаційно اشتعال انگيزي سے một cách khiêu khích 挑衅地