rile

verb

ˈrī(-ə)l 

riled; riling

transitive verb

1

: to make agitated and angry : upset

2

: roil sense 1

Synonyms

• aggravate
• annoy
• bother
• bug
• burn (up)
• chafe
• eat
• exasperate
• frost
• gall
• get
• grate
• gripe
• hack (off)
• irk
• irritate
• itch
• nark [British]
• nettle
• peeve
• persecute
• pique
• put out
• rasp
• ruffle
• spite
• vex

Choose the Right Synonym for rile

irritate, exasperate, nettle, provoke, rile, peeve mean to excite a feeling of anger or annoyance.

irritate implies an often gradual arousing of angry feelings that may range from mere impatience to rage.

constant nagging that irritated me greatly

exasperate suggests galling annoyance and the arousing of extreme impatience.

his exasperating habit of putting off needed decisions

nettle suggests a sharp but passing annoyance or stinging.

your pompous attitude nettled several people

provoke implies an arousing of strong annoyance that may excite to action.

remarks made solely to provoke her

rile implies inducing an angry or resentful agitation.

the new work schedules riled the employees

peeve suggests arousing fretful often petty or querulous irritation.

a toddler peeved at being refused a cookie

Examples of rile in a Sentence

Her comments riled the professor.

one sure way to rile me is to keep yelling for me

Recent Examples on the Web

By this stage, the Cambridge capital controversy was winding down—with both sides claiming victory—but economics was still riled by contentious debates over issues like inflation, labor unions, and poverty in the developing world. —John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 2 Nov. 2024

The money piece really riles me up because women receive around 2% of funding from venture capitalists, and money really is everything. —Natasha Pearlman, Glamour, 30 Oct. 2024

With as much as a one word tweet, the superstar artist got her fans riled up on Thursday night (Oct. 24). —Michael Saponara, Billboard, 25 Oct. 2024

Later, he’ll get riled up and turn nasty, at which point his bias starts to affect our perception of things. —Ben Travers, IndieWire, 18 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

variant of roil

First Known Use

1624, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

rile

verb

ˈrī(ə)l 

riled; riling

1

: to make angry

2

: roil sense 1