Meanings
goad1
noungoad (plural goads)
plural goads
- A long, pointed stick used to prod animals.
the daily goad urging him to the daily toil
1856 December, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “Samuel Johnson”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, new edition, London: Longman, Green, Reader, & Dyer, published 1871, →OCLC - figurativelyThat which goads or incites; a stimulus.
I might have been an unfortunate little bull in a Spanish arena, I got so smartingly touched up by these moral goads.
1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter IV, in Great Expectations […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC, page 51
verbgoad (third-person singular simple present goads, present participle goading, simple past and past participle goaded)
present singular third person goads · participle present goading · participle past goaded · past goaded
- To prod with a goad.
Goad2
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo incite or provoke.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna verbalization that encourages you to attempt something
Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰey-
- Proto-Germanic*gaidō
- Old Englishgād“goad”
- Middle Englishgode
- Englishgoad
From Middle English gode, from Old English gād (“goad”), from Proto-Germanic *gaidō (compare Old Norse gedda (“pike (fish)”), Lombardic gaida (“spear”)), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰey- (compare Old Irish gath (“spear”), Sanskrit हिन्वति (hinvati), हिनोति (hinoti, “to urge on, throw”), हेति (heti, “missile, projectile”)). Doublet of gad and yard; see also xyston.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek κέντρον, κεντέω
- κέντρον (kéntron)pointed stick used to prod animals
- κεντέω (kentéō)to prod with a goad
Arabic مِنْخَس
- مِنْخَس (minḵas)pointed stick used to prod animals
Basque akuilu
- akuilupointed stick used to prod animals
Bulgarian остен, копраля
- остен (osten)pointed stick used to prod animals
- копраля (kopralja)pointed stick used to prod animals
- подтиквам (podtikvam)to encourage or stimulate
- поощрявам (pooštrjavam)to incite or provoke
- подстрекавам (podstrekavam)to incite or provoke
Catalan agullada, tocadora
- agulladapointed stick used to prod animals
- tocadorapointed stick used to prod animals
- gulladapointed stick used to prod animals
Chinese Mandarin 慫恿 /怂恿, 唆使
- 慫恿 /怂恿 (sǒngyǒng)to encourage or stimulate
- 唆使 (suōshǐ)to encourage or stimulate
- 挑釁 /挑衅 (tiǎoxìn)to incite or provoke
Czech bodec, pobízet
- bodecpointed stick used to prod animals
- pobízetto encourage or stimulate
- pobídnoutto encourage or stimulate
- popichovatto incite or provoke
- popíchnoutto incite or provoke
- provokovatto incite or provoke
- vyprovokovatto incite or provoke
Danish pigkæp
- pigkæppointed stick used to prod animals
Dutch staak, prikkelen
- staakpointed stick used to prod animals
- prikkelento prod with a goad
- aanmoedigento encourage or stimulate
- stimulerento encourage or stimulate
- provocerento incite or provoke
- aanzettento incite or provoke
- aansporento incite or provoke
Finnish tutkain, kannustaa
- tutkainpointed stick used to prod animals
- kannustaato encourage or stimulate
- yllyttääto incite or provoke
French aiguillon, aiguillonner
- aiguillonpointed stick used to prod animals
- aiguillonnerto prod with a goad
- provoquerto incite or provoke
German Stachelstock, anstacheln
- Stachelstockpointed stick used to prod animals
- anstachelnto prod with a goad
- antreibento prod with a goad
- anspornento encourage or stimulate
- anstachelnto encourage or stimulate
- reizento incite or provoke
- aufreizento incite or provoke
- anstachelnto incite or provoke
Greek βουκέντρα, κεντώ
- βουκέντρα (voukéntra)pointed stick used to prod animals
- κεντώ (kentó)to prod with a goad
- παροτρύνω (parotrýno)to encourage or stimulate
- ενθαρρύνω (entharrýno)to encourage or stimulate
Hebrew מַלְמַד
- מַלְמַד (malmád)pointed stick used to prod animals
Hindi हाँकना
- हाँकना (hā̃knā)to prod with a goad
Hungarian ösztöke, felpiszkál
- ösztökepointed stick used to prod animals
- felpiszkálto incite or provoke
- felbujtto incite or provoke
Indonesian gancu
- gancupointed stick used to prod animals
Irish brod
- brodpointed stick used to prod animals
Italian pungolo, pungolare
- pungolopointed stick used to prod animals
- pungolareto prod with a goad
Latin stimulus, stimulāre
- stimuluspointed stick used to prod animals
- stimulāreto prod with a goad
Malay angkus
- angkuspointed stick used to prod animals
Māori whakaongaonga
- whakaongaongato incite or provoke
Persian سک
- سک (sok)pointed stick used to prod animals
Polish oścień, prowadzić
- ościeńpointed stick used to prod animals
- prowadzićto prod with a goad
- podjudzaćto incite or provoke
- podjudzićto incite or provoke
Portuguese incitar, provocar
- incitarto incite or provoke
- provocarto incite or provoke
- atiçarto incite or provoke
Romanian strămurare, îndemna
- strămurarepointed stick used to prod animals
- îndemnato encourage or stimulate
Russian прут, стрека́ло
- прут (prut)pointed stick used to prod animals
- стрека́ло (strekálo)pointed stick used to prod animals
- подгоня́ть (podgonjátʹ)to prod with a goad
- подгоня́ть (podgonjátʹ)to encourage or stimulate
- подстрека́ть (podstrekátʹ)to incite or provoke
- поощря́ть (pooščrjátʹ)to incite or provoke
- подначивать (podnačivatʹ)to incite or provoke
Scottish Gaelic brod
- brodpointed stick used to prod animals
Spanish picana, puya
- picanapointed stick used to prod animals
- puyapointed stick used to prod animals
- aguijadapointed stick used to prod animals
- aguijaderapointed stick used to prod animals
- terigüelapointed stick used to prod animals
- puyarto prod with a goad
- picarto prod with a goad
- aguijarto prod with a goad
- puyarto encourage or stimulate
- incitarto encourage or stimulate
- provocarto encourage or stimulate
- cucarto encourage or stimulate
- cuquearto encourage or stimulate
- acuciarto encourage or stimulate
- picar la crestato incite or provoke
- puyarto incite or provoke
- provocarto incite or provoke
Swedish sporra, egga
- sporrato encourage or stimulate
- eggato incite or provoke
- trissato incite or provoke
Thai ประตัก, ปฏัก
- ประตัก (bprà-dtàk)pointed stick used to prod animals
- ปฏัก (bpà-dtàk)pointed stick used to prod animals
Turkish üvendire
- üvendirepointed stick used to prod animals
Ukrainian стрека́ло, стріка́ло
- стрека́ло (strekálo)pointed stick used to prod animals
- стріка́ло (strikálo)pointed stick used to prod animals
Urdu آنکس
- آنکس (ānkas)pointed stick used to prod animals
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with goad
coderoadmodenodeepisodereloadodunicoderodeowedencodeodedecodeabodebowedunloaderodeboderecodelodetoedstrodecommodeoffload
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
goad. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/goad
MLA
“goad.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/goad. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “goad,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/goad.
Source: goad on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.