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

The Tigers have traveling trophies with Arkansas and South Carolina in the SEC plus a burgeoning series with old Big 12 foe Oklahoma, but nothing riles up the Mizzou faithful like the Jayhawks. — Scott Dochterman, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026

Sydney Sweeney has riled up some leading female athletes with her risqué ad campaign for Novig, the sports betting platform. — Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 14 Sep. 2026

Not wanting to rile his union boss, Willett spends the rest of that day at home in Bayville, Long Island, staring at the TV. — Jeff Goodell, Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2026

Trips included a May 2025 visit to Bahrain and Israel and a December 2025 trip to Jordan, Abu Dhabi and Qatar as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations were riling Minneapolis. — Joseph Konig, PEOPLE, 8 Sep. 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