GOADING Synonyms: 60 Similar and Opposite Words

goading

verb

present participle of goad

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

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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of goading His Dahl is constantly goading people, driving them right up to the edge of their tolerance. — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 24 Mar. 2026 So, does Roan deserve all the credit for softening the nature of these carpets, where dozens of photographers gather to scream goading or even offensive remarks at talent just to get their attention? — Rebecca Ford, Vanity Fair, 12 Mar. 2026 Reporters looking to stir up trouble in the press room were goading American players, particularly those with foreign-sounding last names. — Beth Herman, Boston Herald, 6 Feb. 2026 Julian and Neil take to goading and championing the understandably hangdog Matt. — Lisa Kennedy, Variety, 5 Feb. 2026 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 Christiaan Verbeek’s score is highly effective, ranging from ominous passages propelled by drums and goading percussion to turbulent strings steadily cranked up in intensity. — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019

Recent Examples of Synonyms for goading

Verb

In June, the New Jersey attorney general filed a lawsuit against the site’s operator, The GEO Group, urging a court to close the facility until the state could inspect it over longstanding allegations of inhumane conditions.

— Alex Stambaugh, CNN Money, 4 Aug. 2026
On Semafor’s Mixed Signals podcast in July, former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy reflected on whether the Biden administration took the right approach to public health communication by urging the tech platforms to regulate health misinformation.

— Max Tani, semafor.com, 3 Aug. 2026

Definition of urging

Verb

At first glance, corals present as little more than colorful rocks — piles of lobes, stalagmites, and branches poking out from the seafloor.

— Marlowe Starling, Quanta Magazine, 5 Aug. 2026
Carpenter suggests applying it to vertical surfaces, or using soaked cotton balls in open glass jars (or poking holes in the lids to allow the fumes to escape).

— The Spruce, The Spruce, 4 Aug. 2026

Definition of poking

Verb

China has moved to bar companionship chatbots from encouraging emotional reliance, which means a regulator can decide that a relationship somebody depends on will stop existing.

— Jason Snyder, Forbes.com, 8 Aug. 2026
Peridot acts as a buffer for Virgos, helping to soften their tendency for self-criticism and encouraging a more optimistic outlook.

— Kelsey Stiegman, InStyle, 7 Aug. 2026

Definition of encouraging

Verb

But that effort has moved slowly in the months since, spurring frustration among some White House and health officials that HHS doesn’t yet have any significant progress for the administration to tout, two administration officials said.

— Adam Cancryn, CNN Money, 7 Aug. 2026
What seemed like a low barrier for starting a company and finding investors — spurring viral storylines around 19-year-old blockchain CEOs and other such novelties — has given way to a high sense of precarity for people entering today’s arena.

— Alexander Onukwue, semafor.com, 5 Aug. 2026

Definition of spurring

Verb

Renowned Chilean filmmaker Valeria Sarmiento has a long history of prodding at memory in her films.

— Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 9 July 2026
Payton now will be in the Parcells role, a Super Bowl-winning coach with an endless reservoir of experience pushing and prodding a young assistant with clear potential and the edge that comes with it.

— Joseph Person, New York Times, 24 June 2026

Definition of prodding

Verb

Brennan was previously convicted of second-degree murder with a deadly weapon after stabbing her 76-year-old mother to death with a butcher knife in Hollywood in 2014, according to a probable cause affidavit.

— Shira Moolten, Sun Sentinel, 6 Aug. 2026
Sanders admitted to stabbing her sons to death in February 2018.

— Mike Toole, CBS News, 6 Aug. 2026

Definition of stabbing

Verb

Background on the case On May 30, Shelby Police Officer Karson Hyder was captured repeatedly punching 34-year-old Cherie Moore during an arrest.

— Zaire Breedlove, Charlotte Observer, 30 July 2026
Salgado is accused of approaching the man, taunting him to start a fight and punching him in the face, police said.

— Sofia Saric, Miami Herald, 29 July 2026

Definition of punching

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goaded

goading

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“Goading.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/goading. Accessed 9 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of goading

verb

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