irritate implies an often gradual arousing of angry feelings that may range from mere impatience to rage.
constant nagging that irritated me greatly
exasperate suggests galling annoyance and the arousing of extreme impatience.
his exasperating habit of putting off needed decisions
nettle suggests a sharp but passing annoyance or stinging.
your pompous attitude nettled several people
provoke implies an arousing of strong annoyance that may excite to action.
remarks made solely to provoke her
rile implies inducing an angry or resentful agitation.
the new work schedules riled the employees
peeve suggests arousing fretful often petty or querulous irritation.
a toddler peeved at being refused a cookie
Examples of rile in a Sentence
Her comments riled the professor.
one sure way to rile me is to keep yelling for me
Recent Examples on the WebBy the end of the half, the rookie was visibly riled up, due for a big half.—Bennett Durando, The Denver Post, 14 Apr. 2024 Biden's unconditional backing for Israel in its war against Hamas has riled both groups and cost him support in Democratic primaries in key battleground states.—Joey Garrison, USA TODAY, 3 Apr. 2024 Miyake was game, but the Apple team members pushed back, their American individualism riled.—The Editors, Robb Report, 28 Mar. 2024 In a world constantly riled up over politics, the task of formally opining on issues would be endless.—Pamela Paul, The Mercury News, 15 Mar. 2024 Then, in late 2019, Muilenburg publicly speculated that the FAA would return the Max to service by December of that year, further riling the agency.—Shawn Tully, Fortune, 22 Feb. 2024 The warnings that Barnett claimed riled Boeing to retaliate against him, and that so worried his mom, have proven shockingly prescient.—Shawn Tully, Fortune, 28 Mar. 2024 In comments likely to rile Beijing, Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro suggested on Monday that China should show the strength of its maritime claims through arbitration, rather than ambiguity.—Reuters, NBC News, 25 Mar. 2024 At both stations, his love of the outdoors inspired him to report on pollution and other environmental problems in ways that did not rile the stations’ advertisers.—Richard Sandomir, New York Times, 20 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rile.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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