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 WebArjuna and Follow This are relatively small players, but the litigation has riled a broader group of investors with much deeper pockets.—Justin Worland, TIME, 28 May 2024 Things are immediately intense when the Moon in Gemini trines powerhouse Pluto in Aquarius, but our feelings get even more riled up when the Moon disagrees with picky Venus in Pisces at 6:59 am EDT.—Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 15 Mar. 2024 See all Example Sentences for rile
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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