provoking

provoking is the present participle and gerund of provoke.

Meaning of provoke

provoke (third-person singular simple present provokes, present participle provoking, simple past and past participle provoked)

(transitive) To cause someone to become annoyed or angry.
- Don't provoke the dog; it may try to bite you.
Synonyms:

harass, set off, vex, aggravate, annoy, nettle, rankle, ruffle, sting, burn someone's ass
(transitive) To bring about a reaction.
- To the poet the meaning is what he pleases to make it, what it provokes in his own soul.1881, John Burroughs, Pepacton
Synonyms:

incite, inflame, instigate, whip up, abet, actuate, goose, fuel, light a fire under, send
(obsolete) To appeal.
- Even Arius and Pelagius durst provoke
  To what the centuries preceding spoke.[1682], [John] Dryden, Religio Laici or A Laymans Faith. A Poem, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC

provoking (comparative more provoking, superlative most provoking)

annoying; irritating
- Would you stop interrupting me, dear? It's a most provoking habit.

provoking (plural provokings)

provocation
- The habit of mind so engendered is wholly demoralizing, particularly since the national political consciousness is so dependent on their provokings.1974, Clifford Adelman, No Loaves, No Parables; Liberal Politics and the American Language

What does provoking mean?: Provoking means annoying; irritating.
What is provoking the present participle and gerund of?: Provoking is the present participle and gerund of provoke.
What part of speech is provoking?: Provoking can be an adjective or a noun.

Adapted from Wiktionary: provoking (page history and authors); provoke (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “provoking.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/provoking. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.