provoke

C1 Topic:Actions & Processes

US /pɹəˈvoʊk/ UK /pɹəˈvəʊk/ See IPA manual

Freq #9269

Meanings

1

verb
To deliberately make someone angry or annoyed.

Don't provoke the dog, or it may try to bite you.
2

verb
To cause a reaction or feeling to happen.

His controversial remarks provoked an angry response from the audience.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to deliberately make... annoy anger aggravate antagonize bother

2 verb · to cause a reaction or... bring aboutevoke excite stimulate

Word family

Forms provokedprovokesprovokingprovokingly

Derived forms nonprovokedoverprovokeprovocation provocativeprovokableprovokeeprovokementprovokerreprovokeunprovokeunprovoked

Related forms evoke invokeprovocateurrevoke

Simplified etymology

Provoke dates from late Middle English and ultimately derives from Latin vocare, “to call,” with a prefix giving the literal sense “call forth.”

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French provoquer, from Old French, from Latin prōvocāre. Doublet of provocate.

*per- Proto-Indo-European provoquer Middle French prōvocāre Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# provoke

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /pɹəˈvoʊk/
**IPA (UK):** /pɹəˈvəʊk/
**Frequency rank:** 9269

## Meanings
1. To deliberately make someone angry or annoyed.
2. To cause a reaction or feeling to happen.

## Examples
- Don't provoke the dog, or it may try to bite you.
- His controversial remarks provoked an angry response from the audience.

## Derived Forms
- nonprovoked
- overprovoke
- provocation
- provocative
- provokable
- provokee
- provokement
- provoker
- reprovoke
- unprovoke
- unprovoked

## Related Forms
- evoke
- invoke
- provocateur
- revoke

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *per-
- Root: provoquer
- Root: prōvocāre

## Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French provoquer, from Old French, from Latin prōvocāre. Doublet of provocate.

## AI Etymology
Provoke is borrowed from Middle French provoquer, from Old French, from Latin prōvocāre. Doublet of provocate. In present-day use, it can mean to deliberately make someone angry or annoyed, or to cause a reaction or feeling to happen. Related forms include evoke, invoke, provocateur, revoke. Derived formations include nonprovoked, overprovoke, provocation, provocative, provokable.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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