provoked 1 of 2

adjective

as in aggravated

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provoked

2 of 2

verb

past tense of provoke
1
as in encouraged
to rouse to strong feeling or action his teasing finally provoked her to anger bees generally will not sting unless they are provoked

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2
as in triggered
to bring (something volatile or intense) into being rankings that are sure to provoke an argument among film buffs

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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 provoked
Verb
Sectarian violence made religious mobilization increasingly unattractive, while foreign occupation provoked an awareness of Iraqi nationhood. — Mansoor Moaddel, Foreign Affairs, 15 Oct. 2026 Even in a country with one of the highest murder rates in the world, the scale of the killings in such a short space of time has provoked shock. — Nimi Princewill, CNN Money, 2 Oct. 2026 Ayer came on board the film after reading Cameron Alexander’s script, which provoked such a strong emotional response that the director couldn’t resist taking the material on. — Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 25 Sep. 2026 Prosecutors said Anthony provoked the confrontation that ended with Metcalf being fatally stabbed in the chest. — James Cirrone, FOXNews.com, 19 Sep. 2026 One study, led by Mark Robinson of Intuitive Machines, describes the crater itself and the enormous amount of material thrown across the lunar surface due to the impact that provoked the feature. — Samantha Mathewson, Space.com, 17 Sep. 2026 Despite their intimidating nature, these wasps are not aggressive toward humans unless provoked. — Sean Donnelly, USA Today, 17 Sep. 2026 In the second half, the crowd were provoked a few times by players choosing conservative options with the ball in midfield. — Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026 Tran’s dramatic reveal of the book’s true author provoked much controversy at the time. — Literary Hub, 9 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for provoked
  1. aggravated
  2. encouraged
  3. triggered
  4. frustrated
  5. stimulated
  6. raised
  7. tortured
  8. stirred
Adjective
  • Thompson is being held in Escambia County awaiting extradition to Georgia on charges of felony murder and aggravated assault.
    — Dan Raby, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The court accepted his plea and found Williams guilty of two counts of aggravated endangering a child, according to a news release from the office of the Leavenworth County Attorney.
    — Laura Bauer, Kansas City Star, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of aggravated
Verb
  • He was encouraged to do so by Sadie Sink, who returned to Broadway in 2025 John Proctor is the Villain.
    — Caitlin Huston, HollywoodReporter, 17 Oct. 2026
  • For businesses, flood panels are not only permissible but also encouraged via flood insurance discounts.
    — Alex Harris, Miami Herald, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of encouraged
Verb
  • This action would have triggered a kilonova while also liberating a lot of material, stuff that would take its time falling onto the black hole and fueling longer jets.
    — Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Goldman estimated that active funds benchmarked to MSCI and FTSE indexes hold more than $8 billion in Indonesian equities, although any selling by these investors would be discretionary rather than automatically triggered by a downgrade.
    — Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of triggered
Adjective
  • During a conversation in June, 1985, Darman seemed tired and frustrated.
    — Bob Woodward, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026
  • That was fine in the past, when frustrated boosters would often pony up the cash needed to make a mid-contract move.
    — Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico.com, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of frustrated
Verb
  • The treatments also lowered the production of inflammatory signals that cause long-term swelling, and stimulated new blood vessel formation to nourish healing skin.
    — Abhimanyu Ghoshal, New Atlas, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Serra then analogizes the spatial mediation stimulated by Shift to a verbal operation.
    — Jeffrey Weiss, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of stimulated
Verb
  • The row reached the competition jury’s press conference the day after the opening ceremony, where a reporter raised the question of historical fact and creative freedom.
    — Ophélie Surcouf, Variety, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Alternatively, funding is raised by high-yield corporate bond issuance or private credit borrowing.
    — Hugh Leask, CNBC, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of raised
Adjective
  • Earlier works tinging with an obscure kind of darkness that hinted at tortured psychological states have all but disappeared from her work and living quarters in lieu of an elegant old world charm.
    — Francesca Aton, ARTnews.com, 29 Sep. 2026
  • But this leads to secrets revealed, lies told and tortured confrontations, not just with others but most intensely with himself.
    — Pete Hammond, Deadline, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of tortured
Verb
  • The DeepSeek shock in early 2025 triggered another freakout as the Chinese AI model stirred doubts about the necessity of all that capex.
    — Jason Ma, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Earlier this year, Yu Hao, the founder and CEO of leading robot-vacuum-maker Dreame, made headlines and stirred controversy with his goal of building it into the world’s first $100 trillion company.
    — Derek Rose, Time, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of stirred

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Cite this Entry

“Provoked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/provoked. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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