Provoking

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Provoking \Pro*vok"ing\, a.
     Having the power or quality of exciting resentment; tending
     to awaken passion or vexation; as, provoking words or
     treatment. -- {Pro*vok"ing*ly}, adv.
     [1913 Webster]



From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Provoke \Pro*voke"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Provoked}; p. pr. &
     vb. n. {Provoking}.] [F. provoquer, L. provocare to call
     forth; pro forth + vocare to call, fr. vox, vocis, voice,
     cry, call. See {Voice}.]
     To call forth; to call into being or action; esp., to incense
     to action, a faculty or passion, as love, hate, or ambition;
     hence, commonly, to incite, as a person, to action by a
     challenge, by taunts, or by defiance; to exasperate; to
     irritate; to offend intolerably; to cause to retaliate.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Obey his voice, provoke him not.         --Ex. xxiii.
                                                    21.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath. --Eph.
                                                    vi. 4.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Such acts
           Of contumacy will provoke the Highest
           To make death in us live.                --Milton.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Can honor's voice provoke the silent dust? --Gray.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           To the poet the meaning is what he pleases to make it,
           what it provokes in his own soul.        -- J.
                                                    Burroughs.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Syn: To irritate; arouse; stir up; awake; excite; incite;
          anger. See {Irritate}.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  provoking
       adj : causing or tending to cause anger or resentment; "a
             provoking delay at the airport" [syn: {agitative}, {agitating}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  113 Moby Thesaurus words for "provoking":
     aggravating, agitating, alluring, annoying, ardent, bothering,
     bothersome, breathtaking, burning, challenging, charged,
     cliff-hanging, disquieting, distracting, disturbing, electric,
     emphatic, encouraging, energizing, enthusiastic, exasperating,
     exciting, exhilarating, fervent, fiery, galling, galvanic,
     galvanizing, glowing, harassing, harassment, heady,
     heart-expanding, heart-stirring, heart-swelling, heart-thrilling,
     impassioned, importunate, importune, impressive, inflammatory,
     interesting, intoxicating, inviting, irking, irksome, irritating,
     jarring, jolting, juicy, lively, maddening, mind-blowing, moving,
     overcoming, overmastering, overpowering, overwhelming, passionate,
     perturbing, pesky, pestering, pestiferous, pestilent, pestilential,
     piquant, plaguesome, plaguey, plaguing, prompting, provocation,
     provocative, racy, ravishing, readable, rich, rousing,
     soul-stirring, spicy, spirit-stirring, stimulant, stimulating,
     stimulative, stirring, striking, succulent, suspenseful,
     suspensive, tantalizing, teasing, telling, thought-challenging,
     thought-inspiring, thought-provoking, thrilling, thrilly, tickling,
     tiresome, titillating, tormenting, troublesome, troubling,
     unsettling, upsetting, urgent, vehement, vexation, vexatious,
     vexing, warm, wearisome, worrisome, worrying