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
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Like the Bull, Detective Williams gets riled up and sees red when pushed to the limit.—Lisa Stardust, People.com, 9 Sep. 2025 One group backed by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is using an anti-Newsom argument to rile up the GOP base.—Nicole Nixon, Sacbee.com, 7 Sep. 2025 Some even waved their arms up and down in an attempt to rile up the crowd.—Shreyas Laddha, Kansas City Star, 6 Sep. 2025 Ballhalla gets riled up for everything.—Marcus Thompson Ii, New York Times, 5 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for rile
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