1
as in urging
to try to persuade (someone) through earnest appeals to follow a course of action
tried to goad me into auditioning for the play
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in poking
to urge or push forward with or as if with a pointed object
goading the horse forward into the stall
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of goading
Agents made several arrests in supermarket parking lots and at tamale stands while goading angry residents who confronted them and threatening to unleash tear gas.
—
Jason Meisner, Chicago Tribune, 23 Jan. 2026
The mind thrills to imagine a genderless prophet among the brocades and buckskin breeches of Revolutionary America, weirding out the normies, sticking a flower in the barrel of a musket, and goading the new nation to let its hair down—literally.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
Anthropic’s Claude wanted to know whether my headache was tension-related, due to sinus pressure, or something else entirely—hardly a goading question.
—Lila Shroff, The Atlantic, 22 Sep. 2025
Jason Meisner, Chicago Tribune, 23 Jan. 2026
The mind thrills to imagine a genderless prophet among the brocades and buckskin breeches of Revolutionary America, weirding out the normies, sticking a flower in the barrel of a musket, and goading the new nation to let its hair down—literally.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
Anthropic’s Claude wanted to know whether my headache was tension-related, due to sinus pressure, or something else entirely—hardly a goading question.
—Lila Shroff, The Atlantic, 22 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for goading
Verb
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Following its parent organization’s lead, the nonprofit’s San Diego chapter is urging the public to schedule donation appointments in a dozen cities across San Diego County.—
Paul Sisson,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
22 Jan. 2026
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Davis police say the investigation is ongoing and are urging anyone with information to come forward.—
Richard Ramos,
CBS News,
21 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Tanner Jeannot created a turnover in the Vegas zone, poking it free from defenseman Ben Hutton, and Sean Kuraly pounced on the loose puck.—
Steve Conroy,
Boston Herald,
23 Jan. 2026
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The show could still include a government subplot, maybe some shadowy investigators poking their noses around, but as it was written, the military was just unforgivably lame.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
22 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The Colorado Division of Oil and Public Safety is also encouraging impacted customers to contact them by submitting a complaint online or calling 303-866-4967.—
Austen Erblat,
CBS News,
13 Jan. 2026
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Known for encouraging collaboration in a competitive industry, Brotherton was widely regarded as someone who championed other cooks as much as his own success.—
Ana Gutierrez,
Austin American Statesman,
12 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Particularly impressionable to her at the time were Dirty Dancing (spurring her to take ballroom dancing lessons) and Prince’s Purple Rain — both projected on a simple white sheet in a makeshift viewing room.—
Natalie Oganesyan,
Deadline,
25 Jan. 2026
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Both parties have passed bills year after year aimed at spurring development, yet Colorado's housing market continues to be one of the most expensive in the country.—
Shaun Boyd,
CBS News,
23 Jan. 2026
Verb
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California’s declines can be more properties for sale, nudging sellers to compete on price, and a wobbly economy scaring off some potential buyers.—
Jonathan Lansner,
Oc Register,
20 Jan. 2026
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Igor Thiago loves running into space, nudging his marker into irrelevance and finishing.—
Jack Lang,
New York Times,
17 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Jordan, at times, could be abrasive and biting while relentlessly prodding his teammates to push themselves to excellence.—
Michael Silver,
New York Times,
16 Jan. 2026
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Trump believes exacting tariffs can be a useful tool in prodding friends and foes on the global stage to bend to his will.—
Jon Gambrell,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Jan. 2026
Verb
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These findings could be consistent with testimony from Peres Magalhães that Banfield manipulated the crime scene after stabbing his wife.—
Lauren del Valle,
CNN Money,
23 Jan. 2026
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After stabbing her, Redd is accused of taking her car and driving off.—
David Matthews,
New York Daily News,
23 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Over the course of the novel, each Flynn girl is suspended from school at least once for some screwball infraction, including spreading conspiratorial theories about covert surveillance operations in town, punching another kid in the face, and preparing to commit an act of domestic terrorism.—
Hannah Gold,
New Yorker,
21 Jan. 2026
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Violence has become an increasing concern, with reports of patients punching and kicking nurses; in November, a gunman threatened to shoot up the Mount Sinai emergency department.—
Amy Feldman,
Forbes.com,
21 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Goading.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/goading. Accessed 28 Jan. 2026.
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