rile

verb

ˈrī(-ə)l 

riled; riling

transitive verb

1

: to make agitated and angry : upset

Her comments riled the professor.

2

: roil sense 1

Synonyms of rile

• annoy
• irritate
• bother
• persecute
• bug

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

April Fools' Day was a thing back then, too — and of course, other fanciful stories that might have gotten Chicagoans riled up have turned up since. —Adam Harrington, CBS News, 1 Apr. 2026

Cate Charron Several Democrats running for office in the upcoming May primary elections had five minutes to run through their platform and rile the crowd atop a soapbox. —Cate Charron, IndyStar, 30 Mar. 2026

Some of that disinformation is put out by the Iranian government, including fake firsthand accounts that attempt to rile up Americans who oppose the war, said Houman Hemmati, who supports the war and left Iran with his Persian Jewish family after the 1979 revolution. —ABC News, 17 Mar. 2026

While two sources say Sarandos was riled to hear about this during a chance encounter with a Penguin executive, a Netflix insider says the Co-CEO never met anyone at the publishing house regarding the book. —Matt Donnelly, Variety, 17 Mar. 2026

Word History

Etymology

variant of roil

First Known Use

1724, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for rile

• aisle
• bile
• chyle
• file
• guile
• heil
• isle
• kyle
• mile
• pile
• smile
• stile

Kids Definition

rile

verb

ˈrī(ə)l 

riled; riling

1

: to make angry

2

: roil sense 1