Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use provoke in a sentence

40 example sentences · verb

Provoke means to cause someone to become annoyed or angry. Example: “Don't provoke the dog; it may try to bite you.”

Examples of provoke by meaning

verbTo cause someone to become annoyed or angry.

  • Don't provoke the dog; it may try to bite you.

verbTo bring about a reaction.

  • Thence Sish went forth into the world to destroy its cities, and to provoke his hours to assail all things, and to batter against them with the rust and with the dust.1905, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], The Gods of Pegāna, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews, […], →OCLC
  • An old traditional prescription for provoking erotic inclinations ran as follows, The toe of the foot of a man, anointed with oil, or honey, or the ashes of a weasel.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 234
  • Spain were provoked into a response and Villa almost provided a swift equaliser when he rounded Hart but found the angle too acute and could only hit the side-netting.2011 November 12, “International friendly: England 1-0 Spain”, in BBC Sport

More sentences with provoke

  • Apologizing for losing your temper, even though you were badly provoked, showed real class.From the entry class
  • Notwithstanding I was provoked, I ought not to have reacted so violently.From the entry notwithstanding
  • The think piece provoked a flurry of media responses for the remainder of the week.From the entry flurry
  • If John is dead set on marrying Catherine, his parents' objection will only provoke a falling out.From the entry dead set
  • Although severely provoked, she showed admirable restraint in not retaliating.From the entry in
  • The uncanniness provoked by doppelgangers is particularly acute because the thing that becomes unfamiliar is you.2023, Naomi Klein, Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN. From the entry doppelganger
  • We don’t want to scare away our members or provoke a fight with the government.2022 July 18, George Monbiot, “This heatwave has eviscerated the idea that small changes can tackle extreme weather”, in The Guardian. From the entry incrementalism
  • You smell bread and it provokes a memory of bread baking.2018, Daron Malmborg, The Plan for Darkness, page 203. From the entry semi-eidetic
  • Kane did more than anyone to provoke the crowd’s dissent with his overhit passes and misdirected shots.2016 June 27, Daniel Taylor, “England humiliated as Iceland knock them out of Euro 2016”, in The Guardian, London. From the entry overhit
  • These are innocent sons provoked to consider an invidious scenario by the boofish behaviour of a few.2016 February 24, Janelle Saffin, “USDP Government & Presidential spokesperson’s silly and shocking statement on Section 59(f)”, in Mizzima. From the entry boofish
  • Public debt of this magnitude can provoke punishing tax rates and crowd out private investment.2010, Gary Clyde Hufbauer, Globalization at Risk, Yale University Press, →ISBN. From the entry punishing
  • They provoked Me with an ungod, they vexed Me with their empty things.2008, Robert Alter, The Five Books of Moses. From the entry ungod
  • This curious species of non-publication provoked numerous programmers to post directions on Slashdot for circumventing the clickwrap.2004, Philip Mirowski, The Effortless Economy of Science?. From the entry clickwrap
  • Thus Mercury cures the holes which it has provoked and other Arsenicals do likewise.1999, Paracelsus, “Opus Paramirum”, in Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, transl., Essential Readings, North Atlantic Books, page 95. From the entry arsenical
  • Gibson called me in part because she knew I like to provoke, tickle, and prod.1989, Helping Learners Learn at a Distance: Fifth Annual Conference on Teaching at a Distance, Madison, Wisconsin, August 8-10, 1989, The…. From the entry Minnesota nice
  • Philosophers excepted, however, everyone liked to listen to mythoi—or haggadic exposition—because these tales provoked discussion.1988, Elias Joseph Bickerman, The Jews in the Greek Age, page 190. From the entry haggadic
  • He provokes, inspires, pontificates and jargonizes unto "hegemony" and "archaic parental imagos."1982 Jan. 14, John Leonard, "Books of the Times" (book review of The Age of Desire by Joel Kovel), New York Times (retrieved 29 Nov 2012). From the entry jargonize
  • Destined for internal consumption, these three words nevertheless provoked the reply which you see here: who doesn’t?1960, Raymond Queneau [aut.] (+ unknown tr.), Zazie, page 128. From the entry percontative
  • When interrogating their prospects, some cadres spoke so curtly and carelessly that their questions provoked only laughter.1955, Union Research Service, volume 1, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2. From the entry Wanfow
  • This explanation provoked further great hilarity among the members of the committee.1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, [Paris]: Olympia Press, →OCLC. From the entry cognate
  • In his "hardest game" series, he plays malding games, named for the rage they provoke in those who play them.2021 May 24, Charlie Pugh, “The art of misery: how Ludwig made a career from failing”, in The Courier, number 1414, Newcastle upon Tyne…. From the entry mald
  • Infections caused by helminthes, such as parasites of the Ancylostomidae family, can provoke anemia due to chronic intestinal blood loss.2015 October 8, “Determinants of Iron Deficiency Anemia in a Cohort of Children Aged 6-71 Months Living in the Northeast of Minas Gerais…. From the entry helminthes
  • When provoked, Greg can become downright pedantic.2015, Dane Mc Caslin, A Bird in the Hand, →ISBN. From the entry pedanticness
  • The desire to find something could provoke what she called 'wantum mechanics,' fishing a result out of nothing but noise.2014, Gregory Benford, Gregory Benford SF Gateway Omnibus: Artifact, Cosm, Eater, →ISBN. From the entry wantum
  • “The council approved the plan in January,” Mannion said, delighted by the reaction he had so deliberately provoked.2011, Dominic Lagan, chapter 3, in The Coming Storm (A Red Mannion Novel), Morrisville, N.C.: Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 34. From the entry Free City of Tri-Insula
  • It provoked criticism for its portrayal of a woman who leaves her marriage for life with a solitary traveler.2010, R. Todd Felton, A Journey Into Ireland's Literary Revival, →ISBN, page 213. From the entry traveller
  • The modernist rat provokes such oppositions only to confound them.2010, Maud Ellmann, “Chapter 2. The modernist rat”, in The Nets of Modernism: Henry James, Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, and Sigmund Freud…. From the entry bibliophagous
  • Its opponents call this relational modality a “viral clause” in order to provoke associations with computer vira and illness in general.2010 winter, J[ohn] Martin Pedersen, “Free Software as Property”, in The Commoner: [A Web Journal for Other Values], number 14 (Property…. From the entry computer vira
  • Furthermore, as we see in (54), the dreamer is the experiencer of the 'dream' event provoked by the dreamee.2010, Spike Gildea, Francisco Queixalós, Ergativity in Amazonia. From the entry dreamee
  • Sutcliffe went in hard, did everything to provoke him.2009, Robert Sims, Tropic of Death, page 346. From the entry mad as a cut snake
  • Skulls may haunt even without being so bitterly provoked.2009, Terri Hardin, editor, Terrifying Tales: Stories of the Occult from Around the World, Fall River Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 344. From the entry Li-shui
  • A few years ago such questions provoked academic controversy.2009 December 30, James E. Katz, quotee, “The Apparatgeist calls”, in The Economist, London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived…. From the entry Apparatgeist
  • Its resemblance to the Prothean data banks recovered on Mars provoked immediate interest from the Alliance and the Citadel Council.2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Protheans: Beacon Codex entry. From the entry quantum leap
  • We hope, however, that in passing this on we don't provoke any attacks of aibohphobia among our readers.2006 Feb, NewScientist, page 56, column 3. From the entry aibohphobia
  • The branching progression of the fungus into the host cell provokes de novo synthesis of the periarbuscular membrane.2005, Gopi K. Podila, Ajit Varma, editors, Basic Research and Applications of Mycorrhizae, New Delhi: I. K. International Pvt. Ltd.…. From the entry arbuscle
  • And my age would surely provoke some discussion relative to the HSTS and AG thing which I'd rather not go into.2004 June 30, Valerie, “Re: New Girl in Town”, in alt.support.srs (Usenet), retrieved 10 Nov 2021. From the entry HSTS

Meaning of provoke

  1. verb To cause someone to become annoyed or angry.
  2. verb To bring about a reaction.
  3. verb To appeal.

Full definition of provoke

Questions about provoke in a sentence

How do you use provoke in a sentence?
Provoke is used as a verb. For example: “Don't provoke the dog; it may try to bite you.”
What is a short sentence with provoke?
“When provoked, Greg can become downright pedantic.”
What does provoke mean?
Provoke means to cause someone to become annoyed or angry.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: provoke (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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