Synonyms of urge
70 similar words
Another word for urge is encourage. Other synonyms of urge are stimulate, push, prompt, motivate and promote.
Synonyms and similar words for urge
nounA strong desire to do something.
- hunger
- yearning
- ache
- appetencyStrong desire; craving; powerful instinct.
- appetite figuratively
- cravingA strong desire; yearning.
- hankeringA strong, restless desire, longing, or mental inclination.
- impulseA wish or urge, particularly a sudden one prompting action.
- itch
- jones US, slang
- lickerish
- longing
- thirst figuratively
- yenA strong desire, urge, or yearning.
- letch archaic
- lust archaic
- pining archaicThe act of one who pines.
verbTo press; to push; to drive; to impel; to force onward.
verbTo put mental pressure on; to ply with motives, arguments, persuasion, or importunity.
- instigateTo goad or urge (a person) forward, especially to wicked actions.
- actuateTo incite to action; to motivate.
- goose
- fuel
- light a fire underTo motivate or encourage (someone) to start sooner or move faster.
- send
- sting
- bring aboutTo cause to take place.
- drawTo attract or provoke (a particular reaction or response) from someone.
- driveTo motivate; to provide an incentive for.
- egg onTo encourage or coax (a person) to do something, especially something foolhardy or reckless.
- engenderTo bring into existence (a situation, quality, result etc.); to give rise to, cause, create.
- evokeTo elicit a response.
- exciteTo arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate.
- fomentTo incite or cause troublesome acts; to encourage; to instigate.
- goadTo incite or provoke.
- ignite figurativelyTo spark off (something), to trigger.
- incite
- induceTo cause, bring about, lead to.
- inflame figurativelyTo excite or intensify (a feeling, such as an appetite or passion), especially to an excessive or unnatural level.
- invokeTo bring about as an inevitable consequence.
- lash
- motiveTo prompt or incite by a motive or motives; to move.
- motivateTo provide someone with an incentive to do something; to encourage; to actuate.
- obligate
- oblige
- pushTo continually attempt to persuade (a person) into a particular course of action.
- promoteTo encourage, urge or incite.
- promptTo lead (someone) toward what they should say or do.
- provokeTo bring about a reaction.
- rouseTo provoke (someone) to react (for example, in anger or annoyance); to spur; also, to annoy, to tease.
- set offTo begin; to cause; to initiate.
- spark offTo initiate something by providing the necessary conditions.
- spurTo urge or encourage to action, or to a more vigorous pursuit of an object.
- spur onTo spur or urge (someone) to do something.
- stirTo incite to action.
- stir upTo arouse or excite (passion or action, etc.).
- stoke figuratively
- temptTo provoke something; to court.
- whip upTo arouse or excite.
- abet obsoleteTo urge on, stimulate (a person to do) something desirable.
- cheer obsoleteTo encourage to do something.
- grill Scotland, USTo make angry; provoke; offend, incite.
- move obsoleteTo incite, urge (someone to do something); to solicit (someone for or of an issue); to make a proposal to.
- whet obsoleteTo inculcate or teach (habits, information, etc.).
Meaning of urge
- noun A strong desire to do something.
- verb To press; to push; to drive; to impel; to force onward.
- verb To put mental pressure on; to ply with motives, arguments, persuasion, or importunity.
urge in other languages
Questions about synonyms of urge
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: urge (page history and authors) and the entries of the words listed. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws grouped the synonyms and antonyms by meaning and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “Synonyms of urge.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/synonyms/urge. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.