provoked 1 of 2

adjective

as in aggravated

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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
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 The first festival screenings finally took place at the Berlinale in 2020, where a spinoff feature and six-hour TV series provoked outrage at the height of the #MeToo movement. — Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 9 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
  • 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
  • The driver of the pickup truck, 21-year-old Jesse David Lovato, has since been arrested and is facing charges of manslaughter and aggravated assault, according to the outlets.
    — Sam Gillette, PEOPLE, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of aggravated
Verb
  • Doe’s attorney, Thomas Giuffra told CNN his client remains committed to working with Attorney General Letitia James’ investigation and is encouraged by her appointment.
    — Rebekah Riess, CNN Money, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Many of these culture-creating behaviors have been observed in 2026 Anthropic studies of multi-agent systems this year that encouraged complex collaboration.
    — Michael Morris, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of encouraged
Verb
  • The end may finally be near for cleanup of a toxic industrial site that triggered a public emergency and environmental crisis on Florida’s Gulf Coast five years ago.
    — Ryan Ballogg, Miami Herald, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Last year’s catastrophic southern floods, triggered by 25 inches of rain over three days, killed at least 145, inundated more than 33,000 homes and damaged critical facilities such as schools, hospitals and highways.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of triggered
Adjective
  • Jake is eventually very frustrated and decides to quit basketball to do theater.
    — Andy Hoglund, Entertainment Weekly, 27 Sep. 2026
  • For a frustrated parent, a child's meltdown can look like bad behavior.
    — Suzanne Le Mignot, CBS News, 27 Sep. 2026
Definition of frustrated
Verb
  • Serra then analogizes the spatial mediation stimulated by Shift to a verbal operation.
    — Jeffrey Weiss, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
  • When a sensor detected the left or right forelimb moving, the hub sent a limb-specific pulse through the body that reached an implant on the corresponding hind leg, which stimulated the sciatic nerve and made that leg twitch.
    — Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of stimulated
Verb
  • The GoFundMe, which was started to cover funeral costs, counseling and other support for the family, has raised a little over $23,000.
    — Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 2 Oct. 2026
  • OpenAI raised $122 billion in a single round this year and Anthropic $65 billion, totals which no Chinese company can match.
    — Nicholas Gordon, Fortune, 2 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
  • Even before its launch, the series stirred spirited discussion from enthusiasts of the book overs Kazan’s decision to center the story’s chilling antagonist Cathy Ames, played by Florence Pugh.
    — Yvonne Villarreal, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026
  • The possibility of losing the road has stirred fears among the runners, cyclists, fishermen, birders and others who use it.
    — Rick Maese, Washington Post, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of stirred

Browse Nearby Words

provoke
provoked
provoker
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Provoked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/provoked. Accessed 6 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of regimen

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All