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

Pittsburgh Regional Transit Officials are urging people attending the draft and going to Pittsburgh to use public transit with major road closures and traffic restrictions that will be in place throughout the three-day event.

— Mike Darnay, CBS News, 15 Apr. 2026
In March, Israel’s minister of diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism, Amichai Chikli, sent a letter urging Ottawa to increase efforts to protect Jewish communities after three synagogues in the Toronto area were hit by gunfire within just one week.

— Amelie Botbol, FOXNews.com, 15 Apr. 2026