provoke, irritate, aggravate

動詞 provoke:

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

1. Such tendentious statements are likely to provoke strong opposition.
   這種有傾向性 的說法可能招致強烈的反對。
2. Such a questionable assertion is sure to provoke criticism.
   這種有問題的主張肯定會招致非議。
3. His rudeness provoked me to strike him.
   他的粗魯惹得我揍了他。
4. He tried to provoke them into fighting.
   他企圖挑撥他們打架。

pro.voke

v.tr.（及物動詞）
pro.voked,pro.vok.ing,pro.vokes
To incite to anger or resentment.
激起，挑起：激起憤怒或怨恨的情感
To stir to action or feeling.
煽動：激起行動或感情
To give rise to; evoke:
引起：使…出現(xiàn)；喚起，引起：
例句：
provoke laughter.
引起一陣大笑

To bring about deliberately; induce:
招致：故意導致；招致：
例句：
provoke a fight.
挑起一場戰(zhàn)斗

來源：
Middle English provoken
中古英語 provoken
from Old French provoquer
源自 古法語 provoquer
from Latin prôvoc3re [to challenge]
源自 拉丁語 prôvoc3re [挑戰(zhàn)]
prô- [forth] * see pro-
prô- [向前的] *參見 pro-
voc3re [to call] * see wek w-
voc3re [召喚] *參見 wek w-

【引伸】
provok.ingly
adv.（副詞）
<參考詞匯><同義詞>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.
這些動詞在意為觸動某人采取某行動、產(chǎn)生某種感情或以這種方式觸動某人從而命令某事物時，常把它們做比較。
Provoke, the least explicit with respect to means,frequently does little more than state the consequences produced:
Provoke 在方式上最不明確，通常僅僅指明所產(chǎn)生的后果：
例句：
.Let my presumption not provoke thy wrath. (Shakespeare).
.希望我的揣測不會激起你的怒氣. （莎士比亞）。

例句：
.A situation which in the country would have provoked meetings. (John Galsworthy).Toincite is to provoke and urge on:
.一種要是在鄉(xiāng)下會激起討論的狀況. （約翰·高爾斯華綏）。Incite 是激起和激勵前進的意思：

例句：
The insurrection was incited by members of the outlawed opposition.
暴亂是由那些在逃的反對派成員挑起的。

Excite especially implies the provoking of a strong reaction or powerful emotion:
Excite 特指引起強烈的反應或激烈的情感：
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:
這出戲注定失??；情節(jié)激不起觀眾半點興趣和好奇心。 Stimulate 指似乎用馬刺或木刺驅趕一樣激起活力或使行動重新充滿活力：

例句：
.Our vigilance was stimulated by our finding traces of a large . . . encampment. (Francis Parkman).
.我們發(fā)現(xiàn)了一次大規(guī)模的駐營痕跡，這促使我們提高警覺. （弗蘭西斯·帕克曼）。

Arouse androuse suggest awakening, as from inactivity or apathy;
Arouse 和rouse 含有使從不積極或冷漠狀態(tài)中蘇醒之意；
rouse, the stronger term,often implies incitement to vigorous or animated activity or excitement of strong emotion:
rouse 在語氣上較強一些，指激發(fā)進行有活力或生機的活動或激起強烈的感情：
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).
.在象我們這樣一個民主社會中，只有當被喚起的公眾的良知感染了民眾代表的良知時，我們才能感到放心. （費利克斯·弗蘭克福特）。

例句：
.His mother . . . endeavored to rouse him from this passive state. (Washington Irving).
.他的母親…試圖使他從消極的狀態(tài)中振作起來. （華盛頓·歐文）。

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…在他心中激起了狂熱且痛苦的渴望. （阿諾德·貝內特）。Stir 意思是使活躍、引起強烈但令人愉快的情感或引起麻煩或騷動：

例句：
.It was him as stirred up th` young woman to preach last night. (George Eliot).
.正是他鼓動了這個年青女子在昨天晚上進行布道. （喬治·艾略特）。

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

例句：
.Men blame you that you have stirred a quarrel up. (William Butler Yeats).See also Synonyms at annoy
.男人們譴責你，因為你挑起了一場爭端. （威廉·布特勒·葉芝）參見同義詞 annoy