Synonyms of pokes

pokes 1 of 3

noun (1)

plural of poke

1

as in jabs

a quick thrust

please stop giving the cat pokes while it's trying to sleep

Synonyms & Similar Words

• jabs
• punches
• digs
• pushes
• nudges
• sticks
• lunges
• shoves
• dabs
• stabs
• jerks
• jams
• jogs

2

as in blows

a hard strike with a part of the body or an instrument

you'd better shut up if you don't want a poke on the nose

Synonyms & Similar Words

• blows
• swipes
• punches
• slaps
• thumps
• hits
• thuds
• whacks
• knocks
• smacks
• strokes
• licks
• spanks
• pounds
• slams
• bangs
• beats
• claps
• clips
• swats
• hooks
• kicks
• bops
• switches
• bashes
• chops
• hacks
• thwacks
• lashes
• raps
• biffs
• socks
• fillips
• pelts
• whams
• smashes
• hands
• plumps
• douses
• bats
• clouts
• dabs
• picks
• welts
• stripes
• haymakers
• cracks
• cuffs
• belts
• lickings
• wallops
• slugs
• buffets
• stingers
• knees
• swings
• busts
• boxes
• whops
• larrups
• beatings
• counterpunches
• counters
• shivers
• whips
• lefts
• counterstrokes
• counterblows
• rabbit punches
• sucker punches
• body blows
• uppercuts
• roundhouses
• batterings
• thrashings
• rights
• whippings
• KOs
• knockdowns
• pastings
• crunchers
• sidewinders
• drubbings
• right-handers
• bastinadoes
• kayos
• one-twos
• knockouts
• wallopings

3

as in insults

an act or expression showing scorn and usually intended to hurt another's feelings

the constantly bickering husband and wife seem unable to let five minutes pass without an exchange of gratuitous pokes

Synonyms & Similar Words

• insults
• sarcasms
• slaps
• outrages
• barbs
• digs
• indignities
• darts
• attacks
• slights
• slurs
• affronts
• epithets
• names
• brickbats
• girds
• offenses
• personalities
• taunts
• cuts
• dises
• disgraces
• sneers
• criticisms
• mocks
• put-downs
• abuses
• gibes
• swipes
• jeers
• quips
• shames
• catcalls
• invectives
• knocks
• vituperations
• tortures
• disapprovals
• slams
• torments
• dishonors
• opprobriums

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• compliments
• praises
• commendations
• accolades
• acclaim
• flatteries
• applauses
• adulations

pokes

2 of 3

noun (2)

plural of poke, chiefly Southern & Midland

as in pouches

a container made of a flexible material (as paper or plastic)

the old warning against buying a pig in a poke

Synonyms & Similar Words

• pouches
• bags
• sacks
• backpacks
• packages
• packets
• bundles
• packs
• wallets
• traveling bags
• purses
• duffel bags
• tote bags
• carryalls
• pocketbooks
• shopping bags
• knapsacks
• totes
• satchels
• portmanteaus
• garment bags
• rucksacks
• haversacks
• barracks bags
• parcels
• handbags
• ditty bags
• work bags
• kit bags
• flight bags

pokes

3 of 3

verb

present tense third-person singular of poke

1

as in protrudes

to extend outward beyond a usual point

saw his head poking through the window

Synonyms & Similar Words

• protrudes
• bulges
• juts
• swells
• stands out
• pouts
• sticks out
• projects
• billows
• beetles
• overhangs
• pouches
• starts
• bellies
• bunches
• balloons
• bags
• extends
• stretches
• pooches
• inflates
• distends
• dilates
• lengthens
• expands
• domes
• mushrooms
• elongates
• snowballs
• blows up

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• shrinks
• contracts
• compresses
• condenses
• constricts

2

as in interferes

to interest oneself in what is not one's concern

told him to stop poking into other people's business

Synonyms & Similar Words

• interferes
• messes
• snoops
• intervenes
• pries
• intrudes
• obtrudes
• meddles
• noses
• intermeddles
• butts in
• interlopes
• invades
• encroaches
• intercedes
• mucks (about or around)
• interposes
• plays
• tampers
• fiddles
• fools
• infringes
• trespasses
• chisels (in)
• monkeys
• barges (in)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• avoids
• ignores
• shuns
• neglects
• eschews
• disregards
• overlooks

3

as in drags

to move or act slowly

just poked around all morning and didn't accomplish much

Synonyms & Similar Words

• drags
• lingers
• crawls
• delays
• strolls
• creeps
• shuffles
• plays
• lags
• loiters
• diddles
• dawdles
• marks time
• hangs fire
• mopes
• falls behind
• stalls
• drops behind
• lollygags
• tarries
• dallies
• staggers
• dillydallies
• saunters
• lounges
• drags one's feet
• ambles
• idles
• takes one's time
• loafs
• inches
• shilly-shallies
• putters (around)
• potters (around)
• lolls
• fiddles (around)
• fools around
• hangs (around or out)
• eases
• decelerates
• trifles
• messes around
• lumbers
• monkeys (around)
• plods
• temporizes
• slows (down or up)
• procrastinates
• filibusters

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• rushes
• rips
• runs
• flies
• tears
• scurries
• barrels
• courses
• hurries
• races
• dashes
• speeds
• scoots
• whirls
• whisks
• whizzes
• hastens
• zips
• careers
• bolts
• scrambles
• rockets
• darts
• hustles
• scuds
• runs
• humps
• hurtles
• bowls
• trots
• breezes
• jogs
• gallops
• stampedes
• sprints
• accelerates
• quickens
• hotfoots (it)
• speeds (up)
• outruns
• overtakes
• outpaces
• catches up
• outstrips
• fast-forwards

4

as in crawls

to move slowly

they were just poking along home

Synonyms & Similar Words

• drags
• crawls
• creeps
• shuffles
• inches
• limps
• slouches
• oozes
• noses
• creaks (along)
• plods
• snails
• trudges
• lumbers
• tramps
• shambles

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• races
• flies
• speeds
• floats
• glides
• sails
• tears
• whizzes
• zips
• hurries

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of pokes

Noun

At about 17 seconds, the driver’s leg pokes from the car and steps onto the deck of the bridge. — Eric Adler, Kansas City Star, 21 July 2026

Earlier, authorities blocked access to excerpts of Goktas' show, including pokes at Erdogan, that were uploaded onto social media. — ABC News, 2 July 2026

If your everyday bra is worn out, replace it with this scalloped bra that provides padded support — without uncomfortable underwire that digs and pokes. — Isabel Garcia, PEOPLE, 3 June 2026

Then in the second, Mattias Samuelsson was allowed to take multiple pokes at Jeremy Swayman before Geekie clobbered him. — Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 24 Apr. 2026

Privacy may struggle within a buzzing neighborhood as the Sun in your contemplative 12th house pokes indulgent Jupiter in your 3rd House of Messages. — Tarot.com, Chicago Tribune, 5 Apr. 2026

Pepsi has for decades taken pokes at rival Coke in an endless array of commercials, but this time, the youth-skewing cola company really means business. — Brian Steinberg, Variety, 29 Jan. 2026

A lot of times, these hot-button issues that are pressed, those little pokes, are more nuanced than they’re portrayed. — Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 19 Jan. 2026

In the hands of the right provider, filler can enhance and even transform your face with just a few strategic pokes. — Kara Nesvig, Allure, 11 Nov. 2025

Verb

And yet there’s this piece in the policy which pokes its head [and forces them to find a surrogate in Texas]. — Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 2 Oct. 2026

The International Kazoo Championship pokes a little fun at the rigidity of the main stage. — David Alm, Longreads, 1 Oct. 2026

Natural light pokes through the windows, adding a trademark freshness to an indoor coliseum. — Alec Lewis, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026

Adults’s Gen-Z characters tend to see their comforts as transient, their identities as mutable, and seriousness as an annoying obligation, all of which the second season pokes at a bit. — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 27 Aug. 2026

Even in the bathrooms, the toilet and bidet are concealed inside a kind of Travertine bench and the showerhead pokes out from a monolithic stone slab. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Aug. 2026

This is strong language, which pokes at our tribal memory of gasoline shortages from the 1970’s. — George Calhoun, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026

Perched on a finger of land that pokes into Lebanon, Metula is usually crowded with tourists this time of year. — Tal Shalev, CNN Money, 23 June 2026

The self-aware series pokes fun at the teenage superhero subgenre, toying with the way superpowers interfere with daily life. — Skyler Trepel, Entertainment Weekly, 20 June 2026