provoke

provoke, irritate, aggravate

这些动词均含“激怒”之意。
provoke: 指挑衅。
irritate: 指因受到不愉快的刺激而烦燥。
aggravate: 口语用词。指因长时间的反复言行而引起不快。

动词 provoke:

1. call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses)
   同义词：arouse, elicit, enkindle, kindle, evoke, fire, raise
2. evoke or provoke to appear or occur
   同义词：evoke, call forth, kick up
3. provide the needed stimulus for
   同义词：stimulate
4. annoy continually or chronically
   同义词：harass, hassle, harry, chivy, chivvy, chevy, chevvy, beset, plague, molest

1. Such tendentious statements are likely to provoke strong opposition.
   这种有倾向性 的说法可能招致强烈的反对。
2. Such a questionable assertion is sure to provoke criticism.
   这种有问题的主张肯定会招致非议。
3. His rudeness provoked me to strike him.
   他的粗鲁惹得我揍了他。
4. He tried to provoke them into fighting.
   他企图挑拨他们打架。

pro.voke

v.tr.（及物动词）
pro.voked,pro.vok.ing,pro.vokes
To incite to anger or resentment.
激起，挑起：激起愤怒或怨恨的情感
To stir to action or feeling.
煽动：激起行动或感情
To give rise to; evoke:
引起：使…出现；唤起，引起：
例句：
provoke laughter.
引起一阵大笑

To bring about deliberately; induce:
招致：故意导致；招致：
例句：
provoke a fight.
挑起一场战斗

来源：
Middle English provoken
中古英语 provoken
from Old French provoquer
源自 古法语 provoquer
from Latin prôvoc3re [to challenge]
源自 拉丁语 prôvoc3re [挑战]
prô- [forth] * see pro-
prô- [向前的] *参见 pro-
voc3re [to call] * see wek w-
voc3re [召唤] *参见 wek w-

【引伸】
provok.ingly
adv.（副词）
<参考词汇><同义词>provoke,incite,excite,stimulate,arouse,rouse,stirThese verbs are compared in the sense of moving a person to action or feeling or summoning something into being by moving a person in this way.
这些动词在意为触动某人采取某行动、产生某种感情或以这种方式触动某人从而命令某事物时，常把它们做比较。
Provoke, the least explicit with respect to means,frequently does little more than state the consequences produced:
Provoke 在方式上最不明确，通常仅仅指明所产生的后果：
例句：
.Let my presumption not provoke thy wrath. (Shakespeare).
.希望我的揣测不会激起你的怒气. （莎士比亚）。

例句：
.A situation which in the country would have provoked meetings. (John Galsworthy).Toincite is to provoke and urge on:
.一种要是在乡下会激起讨论的状况. （约翰·高尔斯华绥）。Incite 是激起和激励前进的意思：

例句：
The insurrection was incited by members of the outlawed opposition.
暴乱是由那些在逃的反对派成员挑起的。

Excite especially implies the provoking of a strong reaction or powerful emotion:
Excite 特指引起强烈的反应或激烈的情感：
例句：
The play is bound to fail; the plot excites little interest or curiosity. Tostimulate is to excite to activity or to renewed vigor of action as if by spurring or goading:
这出戏注定失败；情节激不起观众半点兴趣和好奇心。 Stimulate 指似乎用马刺或木刺驱赶一样激起活力或使行动重新充满活力：

例句：
.Our vigilance was stimulated by our finding traces of a large . . . encampment. (Francis Parkman).
.我们发现了一次大规模的驻营痕迹，这促使我们提高警觉. （弗兰西斯·帕克曼）。

Arouse androuse suggest awakening, as from inactivity or apathy;
Arouse 和rouse 含有使从不积极或冷漠状态中苏醒之意；
rouse, the stronger term,often implies incitement to vigorous or animated activity or excitement of strong emotion:
rouse 在语气上较强一些，指激发进行有活力或生机的活动或激起强烈的感情：
例句：
.In a democratic society like ours, relief must come through an aroused popular conscience that sears the conscience of the people`s representatives. (Felix Frankfurter).
.在象我们这样一个民主社会中，只有当被唤起的公众的良知感染了民众代表的良知时，我们才能感到放心. （费利克斯·弗兰克福特）。

例句：
.His mother . . . endeavored to rouse him from this passive state. (Washington Irving).
.他的母亲…试图使他从消极的状态中振作起来. （华盛顿·欧文）。

例句：
.The oceangoing steamers . . . roused in him wild and painful longings. (Arnold Bennett).Tostir is to prompt to activity, to arouse strong but usually agreeable feelings, or to provoke trouble or commotion:
.出海的汽船…在他心中激起了狂热且痛苦的渴望. （阿诺德·贝内特）。Stir 意思是使活跃、引起强烈但令人愉快的情感或引起麻烦或骚动：

例句：
.It was him as stirred up th` young woman to preach last night. (George Eliot).
.正是他鼓动了这个年青女子在昨天晚上进行布道. （乔治·艾略特）。

例句：
.I have seldom been so . . . stirred by any piece of writing. (Mark Twain).
.我很少…被一篇文章所感动. （马克·吐温）。

例句：
.Men blame you that you have stirred a quarrel up. (William Butler Yeats).See also Synonyms at annoy
.男人们谴责你，因为你挑起了一场争端. （威廉·布特勒·叶芝）参见同义词 annoy