riled; riling

transitive verb

1
: to make agitated and angry : upset
2
Choose the Right Synonym for rile

irritate, exasperate, nettle, provoke, rile, peeve mean to excite a feeling of anger or annoyance.

irritate implies an often gradual arousing of angry feelings that may range from mere impatience to rage.

constant nagging that irritated me greatly

exasperate suggests galling annoyance and the arousing of extreme impatience.

his exasperating habit of putting off needed decisions

nettle suggests a sharp but passing annoyance or stinging.

your pompous attitude nettled several people

provoke implies an arousing of strong annoyance that may excite to action.

remarks made solely to provoke her

rile implies inducing an angry or resentful agitation.

the new work schedules riled the employees

peeve suggests arousing fretful often petty or querulous irritation.

a toddler peeved at being refused a cookie

Examples of rile in a Sentence

Her comments riled the professor. one sure way to rile me is to keep yelling for me
Recent Examples on the Web But challenging the use of those words will equally rile others. Jesse Green, New York Times, 27 Feb. 2024 His fashion shows were events that people fought to get into, and the crowds who got in would be riled up into a near frenzy. Rachel Elspeth Gross, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2024 Chewing on his mouthguard … thumping his fist on his chest ... waving his arms to rile up the crowd ... jawing with opposing players … gesturing to fans … arguing with officials … high stepping, arms flailing, into huddles. Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Feb. 2024 Even with only a few seconds of a song, with no tantalizing visual component, Lil Nas X managed to rile up a subset of critics. Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 8 Jan. 2024 Scores of police officers were injured by the mob of Trump's supporters riled by the Republican's false claims that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen from him. Hunter Woodall, CBS News, 5 Jan. 2024 The findings do not mean that everyone should get riled up in order to achieve their goals. Heather Lench, Scientific American, 21 Feb. 2024 Playing all of this up riles the fans and keeps the machine turning. Irina Aleksander, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2024 Beverley’s insertion into the game clearly riled the fans up, but the player’s intensity also ratcheted up a notch. Brian Sampson, Forbes, 10 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rile.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

variant of roil

First Known Use

1624, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of rile was in 1624

Dictionary Entries Near rile

Cite this Entry

“Rile.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rile. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

rile

verb
riled; riling
1
: to make angry
2

More from Merriam-Webster on rile

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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