Meanings
present singular third person provokes · participle present provoking · participle past provoked · past provoked
- transitiveTo cause someone to become annoyed or angry.
Don't provoke the dog; it may try to bite you.
2 more examples
In the meane time it chaunced, that Marcus Papyrius ſtroke one of the Galles on the heade with his ſtaffe, because he preſumed to ſtroke his bearde: with whiche iniurie the Gaulle beeing prouoked, ſlue Papyrius (as he ſate) with hys ſworde, and therewith the ſlaughter being begun with one, all the reſidue of thoſe auncient fatherly men as they ſat in theyr Chayres were ſlaine and cruelly murthered.
1577, Raphaell Holinshed, “The Historie of Englande”, in The Firste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande […], volume I, London: […] [Henry Bynneman] for Iohn Harrison, →OCLC, page 26, columns 1–2Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ephesians 6:4Synonyms: harass, set off, vex, aggravate, annoy, nettle, rankle, ruffle
- transitiveTo bring about a reaction.
To the poet the meaning is what he pleases to make it, what it provokes in his own soul.
1881, John Burroughs, Pepacton3 more examples
Thence Sish went forth into the world to destroy its cities, and to provoke his hours to assail all things, and to batter against them with the rust and with the dust.
1905, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], The Gods of Pegāna, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews, […], →OCLCAn old traditional prescription for provoking erotic inclinations ran as follows, The toe of the foot of a man, anointed with oil, or honey, or the ashes of a weasel.
1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 234Spain were provoked into a response and Villa almost provided a swift equaliser when he rounded Hart but found the angle too acute and could only hit the side-netting.
2011 November 12, “International friendly: England 1-0 Spain”, in BBC SportSynonyms: incite, inflame, instigate, whip up, abet, actuate, goose, fuel
- obsoleteTo appeal.
Even Arius and Pelagius durst provoke To what the centuries preceding spoke.
[1682], [John] Dryden, Religio Laici or A Laymans Faith. A Poem, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo cause someone to become annoyed or angry.
verbTo bring about a reaction.
More synonyms by meaning
verbcall forth (emotions, feelings, and responses)
verbevoke or provoke to appear or occur
verbannoy continually or chronically
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinprōvocāre
- Middle Frenchprovoquer
- Englishprovoke
Borrowed from Middle French provoquer, from Old French, from Latin prōvocāre. Doublet of provocate.
More words from Middle French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἐρεθίζω
- ἐρεθίζω (erethízō)to cause to become angry
Arabic اِسْتَفَزَّ
- اِسْتَفَزَّ (istafazza)to cause to become angry
Bulgarian провокирам, предизвиквам
- провокирам (provokiram)to cause to become angry
- предизвиквам (predizvikvam)to bring about a reaction
Catalan provocar
- provocarto cause to become angry
Chinese Mandarin 挑釁 /挑衅, 扇動 /扇动
- 挑釁 /挑衅 (tiǎoxìn)to cause to become angry
- 扇動 /扇动 (shāndòng)to cause to become angry
- 激怒 (jīnù)to cause to become angry
- 激起 (jīqǐ)to cause to become angry
- 刺激 (cìjī)to cause to become angry
Czech dráždit
- drážditto cause to become angry
Danish provokere
- provokereto cause to become angry
Dutch uitlokken
- uitlokkento cause to become angry
Esperanto provoki, provoki
- provokito cause to become angry
- provokito bring about a reaction
Finnish suututtaa, provosoida
- suututtaato cause to become angry
- provosoidato cause to become angry
- provosoidato bring about a reaction
French provoquer
- provoquerto cause to become angry
German provozieren, aufreizen
- provozierento cause to become angry
- aufreizento cause to become angry
- aufwühlento cause to become angry
- aufhetzento cause to become angry
- aufpeitschento cause to become angry
- aufstachelnto cause to become angry
- hervorrufento bring about a reaction
- hervorbringento bring about a reaction
- zeitigento bring about a reaction
- anerzeugento bring about a reaction
- anerschaffento bring about a reaction
Greek εξοργίζω, εξάπτω
- εξοργίζω (exorgízo)to cause to become angry
- εξάπτω (exápto)to cause to become angry
Hebrew הִתְגָּרָה, גִּרָה
- הִתְגָּרָהto cause to become angry
- גִּרָה (girá)to bring about a reaction
Hindi उकसाना, भड़काना
- उकसाना (uksānā)to cause to become angry
- भड़काना (bhaṛkānā)to cause to become angry
- उकसाना (uksānā)to bring about a reaction
- भड़काना (bhaṛkānā)to bring about a reaction
Hungarian provokál
- provokálto cause to become angry
Icelandic ergja, skaprauna
- ergjato cause to become angry
- skapraunato cause to become angry
Italian provocare, generare
- provocareto cause to become angry
- generareto bring about a reaction
Japanese 怒らせる, 立腹させる
- 怒らせる (ikaraseru)to cause to become angry
- 立腹させる (rippaku-saseru)to cause to become angry
- 憤慨させる (fungai-saseru)to cause to become angry
Latin lacessō, prōvocō
- lacessōto cause to become angry
- prōvocōto cause to become angry
Latvian provocēt, provocēt
- provocētto cause to become angry
- provocētto bring about a reaction
Lithuanian kurstyti
- kurstytito cause to become angry
Māori raparapa, makitohene
- raparapato cause to become angry
- makitoheneto cause to become angry
- mārehereheto cause to become angry
- whakateneteneto cause to become angry
- whakapātaritarito cause to become angry
- mukākāto cause to become angry
- kōtarato cause to become angry
- whakakārangirangito bring about a reaction
- pātaritarito bring about a reaction
- taunanaweto bring about a reaction
- whakapātaritarito bring about a reaction
- whakatarito bring about a reaction
Norwegian provosere
- provosereto cause to become angry
Persian افژولیدن
- افژولیدن (afžulidan)to cause to become angry
Polish prowokować, sprowokować
- prowokowaćto cause to become angry
- sprowokowaćto cause to become angry
- podjudzaćto cause to become angry
- drażnićto cause to become angry
Portuguese provocar, irritar
- provocarto cause to become angry
- irritarto cause to become angry
- provocarto bring about a reaction
Russian провоци́ровать, спровоци́ровать
- провоци́ровать (provocírovatʹ)to cause to become angry
- спровоци́ровать (sprovocírovatʹ)to cause to become angry
- серди́ть (serdítʹ)to cause to become angry
- рассерди́ть (rasserdítʹ)to cause to become angry
Spanish provocar, provocar
- provocarto cause to become angry
- provocarto bring about a reaction
Swedish provocera
- provocerato cause to become angry
Tagalog mang-udyok
- mang-udyokto cause to become angry
Thai ยั่วยุ, ยุยง
- ยั่วยุ (yûa-yú)to cause to become angry
- ยุยง (yú-yōng)to cause to become angry
Ukrainian провокува́ти, спровокува́ти
- провокува́ти (provokuváty)to cause to become angry
- спровокува́ти (sprovokuváty)to cause to become angry
- провокува́ти (provokuváty)to bring about a reaction
- спровокува́ти (sprovokuváty)to bring about a reaction
Urdu مشتعل, مشتعل کرنا
- مشتعل (muštaēl)to cause to become angry
- مشتعل کرنا (muštaēl kerna)to bring about a reaction
- مشتعل (muštaēl)to bring about a reaction
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with provoke
Cite this entry
provoke. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/provoke
“provoke.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/provoke. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “provoke,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/provoke.
Source: provoke on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.