provoke

UK: /prəˈvəʊk/ US: /prəˈvoʊk/ ,(prə vōk′)

Inflections of 'provoke' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

provokes

v 3rd person singular

provoking

v pres p

provoked

v past

provoked

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

pro•voke /prəˈvoʊk/   v. [~ + object] , -voked, -vok•ing. 

1. to cause a feeling of anger in;
   annoy or exasperate:
   Stop provoking them with your negative comments.
2. to stir up, arouse, or call forth (feelings, desires, or activity):
   She provoked anger in a lot of people.

pro•vok•er, n. [countable] See -voc-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

pro•voke  (prə vōk′), v.t., -voked, -vok•ing. 

1. to anger, enrage, exasperate, or vex.
2. to stir up, arouse, or call forth (feelings, desires, or activity):
   The mishap provoked a hearty laugh.
3. to incite or stimulate (a person, animal, etc.) to action.
4. to give rise to, induce, or bring about:
   What could have provoked such an incident?
5. [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

pro•vok′er, n. 
Synonyms

• 1. irk, annoy, aggravate, exacerbate, infuriate. See irritate. 
• 2. rouse, instigate.
• 2, 3. See incite. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

provoke / prəˈvəʊk/ verb (transitive)

1. to anger or infuriate
2. to cause to act or behave in a certain manner; incite or stimulate
3. to promote (certain feelings, esp anger, indignation, etc) in a person

Etymology: 15th Century: from Latin prōvocāre to call forth, from vocāre to call

proˈvoking adjective

proˈvokingly adverb